A/N: Hey peeps I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who reviewed. I know this chapter is a week late but I got sick again and can't seem to shake it off. THIS IS IMPORTANT; I AM CHANGING LEXI'S HEIGHT TO 5 FOOT 5. Thanks to all who reviewed and I'll try to have this weeks RAW up very soon. I don't own anyone or anything from Finding Nemo, you'll understand when you read. Anyway on with chapter 7 of Surviving.
Lexi and John walked into The Hampton Coliseum with side by side, discussing events of the night before. All eyes were on them as they made their way down the corridor talking about what had turned out to be an exciting Summer Slam.
"Ok, ok lets agree to disagree ok. You think that Benoit's win was easy and I think it was impressive." John shook his head refusing to get into another discussion about it.
"Ok we'll just avoid that subject and bring up another one. How the hell did you learn to wrestle like that?" Lexi looked at John with raised eyebrows.
"Just like everyone else, by training and workin' hard." Lexi told him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. John rolled his eyes at her and smiled.
"Ok your finisher, how the hell did you pull that off? It takes some wrestlers years to learn how to do a simple moon sault but you; you bounce of the top rope and do one.
What's that all 'bout?" Lexi laughed and patted him on the arm; she opened the divas locker room door and replied.
"It's all 'bout me." John laughed and carried on to his own locker room. As she entered the divas locker room, Lexi was surprised to see Ashley sitting alone and Torrie and Candice sitting together.
"What the hell are you two doin' here?" The divas looked up and smiled at her, Torrie walked over and gave her a hug.
"Hey great match last night, I meant to come and find you before you left to congratulate you again. To answer your question there was another trade, two divas from each show switched so here we are." Torrie smiled and sat back down next to Candice. Lexi suddenly realised something.
"Hey, if you two are here, then who went to SMACKDOWN?" At this Ashley indicated the empty space by her locker, which was usually occupied by Christy. Lexis mouth fell open in shock and she sat down on the bench.
"Christy?" When Ashley nodded Lexi sighed, "I can't believe this, who else went?"
"Stacy" Lexi cursed under her breath. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to her two friends. The two newest additions to the locker room smiled sympathetically and left the room. When they had left Ashley poked her head out the door and then shut it and began pacing around the locker room. Lexi raised her eyes at her friend's strange behaviour and waited for an explanation.
"Whatever you do, don't trust them. Don't tell them things that you want to keep private and don't let them get too close to John." Ashley kicked the bench and growled in frustration.
"Err, ok, why shouldn't I trust them, why shouldn't I tell them things and why keep them away from John?" Lexi inquired. Ashley looked around before pulling up a chair in front of Lexi.
"Because before you came in I heard them talking, I think that they thought that I was asleep, but I was just resting. They were talking about you, saying that you thought that you were the big it and that they were going' to bring you down a notch. They said they were going' to get your trust and dish any dirt they found out and they were going' to deal with your thing with you and John." Ashley stared at Lexi hard who nodded thoughtfully.
"Ok then, I'll keep an eye on them, and I'll speak to John, he'll understand and probably want me to go kick hell out of them." Lexi chuckled and Ashley smiled.
"Speaking of John, what went down with you two last night? Everybody has been talking about it and too many people have asked me what happened but I couldn't tell them anything, so spill it." Ashley waited impatiently as Lexi tried to think of a way to describe the previous night.
"Well, we went to a little diner and talked about us but we didn't solve anythin'. The diner was closin' so we went back to the hotel, and I slept on the couch while he slept on the bed. We woke up in the morning and played on the X-Box until we had to get ready for our flight. We didn't really decide on anythin' about us like what we are, are we friends or what. I dunno, I guess we just gorra see how things go." Lexi smiled and stood up with Ashley. The both left the room and made their way to catering to find the guys. Sure enough, when they entered John, Eugene, Big Show and Maria.
They both sat down and Lexi found herself sat between Big Show and John.
"Hey there sweetie, how's my little spitfire doin'?" Lexi smiled up at Show who looked down at her.
"I'm fine big man yourself?" Show patted her on her shoulder with his giant hands.
"Can't complain." Lexi smiled and turned back to the main conversation, which was about Hogan vs. HBK the previous night. She was paying attention to what Ashley was saying when someone wrapped their arms around her from behind, the conversation stopped as everyone looked at the owner of the arms but Lexi couldn't see so she simply sat and waited for that person to speak.
"Well Miss Andrews, have you thought any more about the offer to give me a massage yet?" Lexi shuddered as she felt the pulse in Robs' stomach pump against her back and felt his breath against her neck. She looked to John and mouthed help to him, John thought for a minute and then pull his chair closer to Lexi's.
"Sorry old chum, this lovely lady is already giving me a massage. Hard luck old chap." John said in is best English accent, which happened to be the worst that Lexi had ever heard. The whole table did their best to suppress their laughs. Rob stepped back and John immediately put his arm around Lexi who moved closer to him and turned so her shoulder was under his and she had her back to him.
"Well then I guess I'll have to wait until you do not need one." Rob said smugly. John sighed and Lexi rose and fell with the movement.
"Well sir, I will always be in need of a massage from this charming young lady." John told him, once again attempting an English accent but failing miserably, much to the amusement of those who were watching. Rob narrowed his eyes before huffing and storming out of the room. The stars just watched him go all hoping that he would fall over.
"See ya later dude." Lexi called after him in a high-pitched voice, imitating Finding Nemo. The entire table burst out in hysterical laughter, partly at Robs huffing and partly at Johns' bad accent. For Lexi it was the accent, in all her life she had never heard such a bad impression of an English accent. When everyone had calmed down, the stars began talking about times when they had been hit on by creeps or in the guys' case, hookers. They also talked about chat-up lines that had been used on them.
"Ok, ok, you can never respond to chat-up lines so that you can put whoever said it off." Big Show said.
"Whoa, for every chat-up line there's always a way to counter it into a put down or insult or whatever." Lexi argued.
"Ok then I'll use a chat-up line on you and you have to find a way to counter it." Show said, Lexi nodded in agreement and waited.
"If I could rearrange the alphabet I'd put U and I together." Show said. Lexi smiled.
"Really? Coz' if I could rearrange it I'd put F and U together." Lexi replied. The stars chuckled lightly and Show frowned.
"Ok, did it hurt when you fell out of heaven?" He asked her.
"Did it hurt when you got kicked out of hell?" Lexi answered. The people surrounding the table laughed as Big Show admitted defeat, then stood up and left the table for his match. One by one the stars left until it was just Lexi and Ashley.
Looking up to the monitor, Lexi saw Candice and Torrie making their way to the ring and call Ashley out for her first RAW appearance as an official diva. Lexi looked at Ashley, confused about the reason she was being called. Ashley made her way out as John re-entered the room, making Lexi laugh when he told her of his run in with Eric. She watched the events in the ring closely and gasped in horror when the two newest additions attacked Ashley. Without hesitating, Lexi jumped up and sprinted towards the ramp.
Torrie and Candice were celebrating in the ring when they saw a fuming Lexi racing to the ring, they quickly got out when she slid in. The two made their way up the ramp while Lexi helped Ashley to her feet. Lexi helped Ashley backstage and firstly took her to the divas locker room, but when she heard Torrie's and Candice's voices took her to the next empty one she found. Telling Ashley to stay still, Lexi made her way back to the divas locker room, picking up John on the way for back up.
When she arrived she strolled in without knocking and immediately went to her bags and began looking through them as if she was searching for something, pulling out a bottle of water she then sat and began responding to a text on her mobile. She could feel the two divas staring at her but wasn't bothered, if they were stupid enough to attack her then she would deal with them, if they attacked her from behind then John was waiting outside listening closely, he would be in there immediately to help her.
"Excuse me sweetie, why are you here?" Lexi looked up to see Candice and Torrie eyeing her suspiciously. Lexi looked around the locker room, as if she was looking for whomever they were talking to.
"You talkin' to me?" Lexi asked.
"Yes we're talking to you, now what are you doing in here?" Candice demanded.
"This is the divas locker room." Lexi told them, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The two gave her dirty looks before getting up, walked over to her and looked down on her. Lexi stood up but the two divas towered over her, they were both two inches taller than her but the three-inch heels they were wearing made them a full five inches taller than her. Lexi, however, was not intimidated at all; she could and would stand up for herself and if that meant she got the crap kicked out of her, which was highly unlikely considering who she was looking at, then she would go down fighting.
"I don't think you realise who you are talking to missy, I am…" But Lexi cut Torrie off.
"No, it's you who doesn't realise who they're talkin' to, coz' if you did you wouldn't be standing' in front of me tryin' badly to intimidate me. Don't make me remind you what I'm capable of." Candice and Torrie looked at her and then started giggling.
"Why don't you show us what you're capable of then, that is if you're not too scared?" Candice said in a mocking voice before joining Torrie in her laughter. Lexi smiled at the two divas who were beside themselves with laughter. Lexi then wiped the smile off her face in a microsecond and kicked Torrie in the stomach and punched Candice, Lexis' fist connecting with Candice's' jaw. Lexi delivered a DDT to Torrie just as John came bursting through the door, he stood and watched as Lexi grabbed hold of Candice and flung her across the room straight into the lockers. Lexi then grabbed hers and Ashley's' bags and walked out of the locker room with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Whoa, Shawty," Lexi turned as John jogged up behind her and took on of the bags, "What the hell was that all 'bout?"
"They asked me to show them what I was capable of, so I did." Lexi smiled before entering the locker room, finding Ashley watching the monitor.
"What took so long?" Ashley asked. Lexi smiled and John dumped the bags on the floor.
"Shawty decided to have a little fun, that fun, however, was kickin' ass." Lexi shrugged and sat down, John following suit. Ashley said nothing before chuckling quietly to herself, which turned into hysterical laughter. The other two superstars exchanged looks of confusion before eyeing the diva search winner suspiciously. John looked at the monitor and stood up. He waved to the two women before leaving the locker room to find somewhere quiet to prepare for his match, Ashley wishing him good luck through her laughter and Lexi telling him to have fun.
Ashley eventually calmed down but didn't say why she was laughing so much. The two watched as Jericho made his way to the ring and then rolled their eyes as he hugged Bischoff. They then watched as John made his way down the ramp with a bandage on his leg that he hadn't been wearing before. Ashley saw the look of concern on Lexis' face and came up with a plan.
"Um, Lex," Lexi looked at her, " You and John aren't dating are you?" Lexi looked at Ashley with an unreadable expression on her face.
"No, why?" Lexi asked, curiously.
"It's just that I got a call from Leyla yesterday and she wanted to know whether he was free game or what." Ashley told her, she got the reaction she wanted as she saw Lexi struggle to keep her anger under control.
"Free game?" Lexi smiled bitterly, "Whatever floats her boat."
"Actually I think I'll tell her that he's taken coz' he certainly floats my boat." Ashley said with a smile. At this Lexi whipped her head round to stare at Ashley, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish. Ashley smiled at her and looked at the monitor.
"I mean come on, look at that body, who wouldn't want that. And as you're taking to much time over him I may as well get in on the game." At this, Lexi stood up and grabbed Ashley round the neck. Ashley did nothing but smile at Lexi.
"What the hell are you smilin' at?" Lexi growled.
"You are the dumbest person I know. You're so blind you don't even see what's right in front of you." Lexi released her hold on Ashley but stayed standing in front of her.
"What are you talkin' 'bout?" Ashley sighed in frustration.
"For heavens sake Lex you are stupid. It's obvious to everyone else except you and him. You really like John." Lexi stood in silence, processing the words that had just come out of Ashley's' mouth.
"Not only that but he really likes you as well, anyone can see it," Ashley insisted and looked at Lexi who was still in deep thought.
"You need to tell him how you feel before someone else muscles in" Lexi sat down and put her head in her hands. Suddenly, something occurred to Lexi about what Ashley just said.
"You don't like him do you? And Leyla never called either did she? You just said that to watch how I reacted." Ashley nodded and shrugged her shoulders.
"Well I had to see how you felt. It's pretty obvious now how you feel." Ashley purposely didn't say how Lexi felt so that Lexi would finally admit it out loud.
"To see how I feel," Lexi muttered quietly to herself, "How do I feel? I've always liked him, the attraction's there; it's plain to see. But there's somethin' else but I can't put me finger on." Lexi was speaking more to herself than to Ashley so the diva search winner simply carried on watching the match, in which Cena was locked in for the Walls of Jericho. Lexi was thinking about her feelings, even though Ashley had said to Lexi that she was in love with John she still needed to admit to herself.
Lexi knew that her feelings were complicated but she also knew that she needed to sort them out quickly before, like Ashley said, anyone else muscled in on John. She thought of the time when she wasn't speaking to John, the sleepless nights knowing that he was looking for her. All the times she had just wanted to call him and say she was sorry for whatever had made him angry with her. She also though of the times where they had just been content to sit and talk about anything, or the times when they had sat in a comfortable silence together, each doing their own thing but knowing that if they weren't together it would be less enjoyable.
She also though about the times when they had come to each others aid, like when she had filled in as referee, her match against Jericho and his handicap match. They were so close and she hadn't even realised it. She knew that if things had been different and she hadn't got to know him as well as she had then her time in the WWE would definitely be less interesting, less fun and certainly less eventful. That was when The Undertakers words came back to her "In your heart you know whom you can fight for, you know who can be your life-jacket, he can pull you out of this pool and make you be you again." She realised that The Undertaker wasn't just talking about her and John's argument, but her and John's entire relationship. All of a sudden she saw things clearly and she knew what she had to do. She looked to Ashley who was still concentrating on the match.
"I really like John." Ashley whipped her head round in surprise when Lexi spoke and then smiled at her friend.
"Well tell him." She advised her.
"I will after his match." Lexi said, feeling like she was the happiest woman on earth, that feeling increased when she saw John win. She felt pity for Jericho when he was fired but was glad that John was staying. All the positive feelings very quickly turned into negative ones when Kurt Angle attacked him from behind. The two women watched in horror as Angle decimated John as Eric declared him the number one contender for the title. When she had regained her senses Lexi sprinted towards the ramp entrance, she arrived just in time to see Mike Chioda helping John backstage, immediately Lexi went to Johns other side and helped him to the trainers room and lay him down on the trainers table.
She then stepped back as the trainer examined his back, which had been put into the Walls of Jericho for over a minute on two consecutive nights and had then been subject to a vicious Angle Slam. When the trainer had finished, Lexi was still waiting with her and Johns bags beside her, Ashley had brought them in and told Lexi that she was leaving. John hadn't moved off the table and had his eyes closed in pain, Lexi sighed and sat in a space on the table and hesitantly took his hand in hers. He opened his eyes, smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
"I seem to be spending a hell of a lot of time in here lately." John said, cracking a small smile, Lexi grinned and nodded slowly her smile fading as she tried to think of a way to tell John how she felt without sounding like a complete nutcase. Taking a deep breath she began to speak.
"You know last night when we went out to talk and never really got round to talkin' 'bout what we should have," John nodded, "I wanna have that talk now."
"Why don't we wait 'til we get back to the ho…" John began but Lexi cut him off.
"No, if we wait then I'll lose me bottle and won't be able to tell you then I'll keep...keep…drowning," John looked at her like she had completely lost it but Lexi carried on, "For some time now I've been confused as to how to define our relationship, are we friends or what. We've been dancing round the subject for far too long and I'm sick of it. While your match was on, Ashley helped me realise that what I felt for you was a hell of a lot more than friendship, I couldn't define it at first but after thinkin' it through and remembering some wise words of advice that were given to me, I finally came to a realization. I realised that when we go out together I don't wanna go out as friends I wanna go out as a couple. I wanna be able to tell people what we are to each other, instead of telling them that I don't know and quickly changin' the subject. The feeling's I have for you are so overwhelming I can't be near to you sometimes. Really, what I'm tryin' to say John is that I really like you."
Lexi looked down at their joined hands and waited for him to speak. She felt him move into a sitting position and gently pushed her chin up so she met his eyes.
"You are by far the most annoying, outspoken, stubborn, the loudest and the craziest person I know," Lexi looked at John with fear and worry in her eyes, "But you are also the funniest, smartest, strongest, wittiest and most beautiful person I have ever met and I love you for every single one of those reasons, the first lot and the second. When people ask me to describe you I simply say that you're Lexi. There's no other way I can describe you. All those things you feel for me and want with me, I feel and want the exact same but obviously for and with you. I realised this during the week you weren't speakin' to me, I was gonna tell you at Summer Slam but we never got around to it. But the simple fact is that I really like you Lexi."
With that he pressed his lips against hers, Lexi snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. At the same time he put his arms around her back and pulled her in, deepening the kiss. When they eventually broke apart they were both smiling and Lexi laid her head on Johns' shoulder. A thought suddenly occurred to John.
"What would you have done if I'd have told you I didn't feel the same?" Lexi smiled but didn't move.
"Grabbed me bag, ran to the hotel, hid for a week and then put a transfer in to go to SMACKDOWN." She said with a small smile. John laughed lightly before looking at the clock on the wall.
"We need to get goin' how are you getting' back to the hotel?" Lexi frowned at his question.
"Well, I'm rooming' with Ashley and we drove here together but she's gone now so I dunno." Lexi told him.
"Where's your bike?" John questioned.
"In Ashley's', it's getting shipped to me apartment, when I get one. I'm staying' with Ashley now coz' Christy got transferred." John nodded as he pulled his shirt on.
"Well, I suppose you'll be ridin' with me then." Lexi smiled as they John opened the door, her smile quickly turned into a look of surprise as Shelton, Ashley, Maria and Eugene all came tumbling through the door and landed in a heap on the ground. Looking outside of the door Lexi saw Big Show leaning against the wall, trying to look innocent. The four scramble to their feet and smiled guiltily at the two stars who were waiting for an explanation.
"Hey, congrats on the whole getting' together." Shelton said with a small smile as the rest nodded in agreement. John raised his eyebrows and Lexi shook her head.
"If I wasn't so happy now I'd give you all hell. But seein' as I'm pretty happy right now, thanks man." Immediately, Ashley, Maria and Eugene hugged the two of them whilst Shelton and Big Show did the manly hug and then hugged Lexi.
"Well, we gotta bounce see you's at the house shows." Lexi said, the two then walked down the corridor and out to the parking lot hand in hand, both completely smitten with each other.