Bold= setting/ place/ POV
Italic= narration/sarcasm/
Underline and ALL CAPS= emphasis
CAPS= shouting argument
*Asterisks= cut microphone* (example: F*** you)
(Parenthesis: Background noise)
[Brackets]: Text messages
Our Careers
Chapter 3: Hyping Matthew's Debut
Matthew's POV Celebration Florida, Smith Apartment New Year's Eve
It was just myself, Alex, Adrian, and her boyfriend who's name I already forgot and it's a few minutes to midnight Alex walked up to me, "Hey." She greeted before taking a sip of champagne, "So… want to be my first kiss of the new year?" She asked smiling.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Alex do you really need to ask?"
She thought for a beat, "Good point, is that a yes?"
"Duh." I replied, "Though I'd like to meet your parents."
Alex's eyes dropped, "You can't." She said.
"Why?" I asked confused.
"I'll show you tomorrow." Alex said.
"Guys 20 seconds left." Adrian said, we joined the group and at 10 the group counted down in unison.
"10! 09! 08! 07! 06! 05! 04! 03! 02!" At that point Alex and I locked hands, "01! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" We all exclaimed. Adrian got a kiss from her boyfriend then turned to us saw we were holding hands.
I'll be elsewhere…" she said before walking off, I put my hand under Alex's chin I lifted it so she looked at me I gently placed her arm around my neck and we kissed for the first time as a couple we heard a thud and we stopped and looked at the ground I hadn't realized Alex had her phone In her hand when we started kissing and as she got more into the kiss the less of a grip she had on her phone I pulled out mine and snapped a picture of her kissing me on the cheek and she finished changing her relationship status and the Daniels sisters went home for first time in the new year.
Later that day
I woke up to someone knocking on my door, "Einen Moment bitte!" (Translation: One moment please!) I shouted and put on some sweat pants and walked down I looked through the peephole, it was Alex, "Let me get dressed." After I got dressed we got in her car and drove to a cemetery, Alex grabbed a bouquet of roses and we walked to the proper row and section she led me to a tombstone she knelt down and placed the roses in a little holder she looked at me, "Joshua and Lisa Daniels, my Mom and Dad, they died the same year your Dad did" Alex turned back to the tombstone, "I do this for them they were huge fans of WWE I had started wrestling by the time they died I almost gave up on wrestling but it was my only outlet, I knew I needed to make it to WWE for them." she started to break down crying. I walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder without looking at me she ran into a hug and cried into my chest.
Matthew POV Full Sail University, Outside the WWE Performance Center
After dropping Alex off and a haircut I arrived at the PC and boy was it windy I was dragged by the arm by a production assistant he threw a Takeover hoodie, "Put this on." After that he led me to a spot, "When you hear the footsteps stop remove the hood." I nodded and faced away from the camera.
5 hours later
"Perfect" The Director said.
Unbreakable preview #02
A man in a hoodie was standing in front of the performance center when it was pretty damn close to his head he removed his hood to reveal the diamond wrapped in chain logo shaved into his head and panned to the front of his torso and zoomed in to the takeover logo on the front of his jacket.
Unbreakable preview #03 (final)
The same hooded man was now standing on the ring apron of one of the seven rings in the Performance center, "At TAKEOVER: PHOENIX" the man jumped into the ring and rolled his hood falling off the camera zoomed in the man looked up, "NXT become unbreakable." The scene went black and the full message displayed on the screen
"Unbreakable" Matthew Smith Arrives
NXT TAKEOVER: PHOENIX
Alex's POV Outside Smith Apartment
I was leaning up against Matt's door with an angry expression on my face when I saw Matt walking down the hall looking tired he walked to the door.
"Hey babe." He said tired and gave me a kiss on the cheek"Can you move so I can go home?" He asked, "Please? I've had a long day."
"Where have you been?" I asked angry, "You haven't replied to any of my text or calls for 5 hours."
"I was at Full Sail shooting the Unbreakable Previews, the director was almost as bad as Stanley Kubrick wanted at least a dozen takes of 2 fucking previews each."
"And the not replying?" I asked annoy but no longer mad.
"My phone must have died while I was shooting the previews it was in my pocket but I didn't feel the vibration."
I moved off the door and hugged him, "Sorry for being cross I was worried when I didn't hear from you."I said as the embrace ended my arms lingered around his neck for a little bit, "So date night postponed until tomorrow?" I asked.
He nodded, "Yeah sorry."
"It's understandable." I said calmly, "Just make sure you charge you phone don't be like him." I said before kissing him for a long moment of passion as our lips parted I had to resist the urge to go in for another kiss, that's why I was surprised when he slammed me into his door and kissed me for an even longer time, "What was that for?" I asked after the kiss ended.
"For be so understanding, needing another one, and just being your gorgeous self." He said as he let me get off the door.
"Well you better go inside before I get too turned on to contain it." I joked with a flirty wink and walked in my apartment.
Matthew's POV
"I wouldn't mind that I mumbled to myself as I walked in and jumped on the sofa and napped for 2 hours to wake up to a call from Daniel Travis. I groaned and grabbed my phone, "What?!" I shouted annoyed.
"Good to hear from you too." He replied.
"Dude I was sleeping, I spent 5 hours trying to get a perfect take with a Kubrick wannabe director and was yelled at by my girlfriend." I snapped.
"Girlfriend?" Daniel said confused.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Do you remember Alex Bell we worked with her in WCPW?"
"No." Daniel said blankly.
"Dark brown hair, light brown eyes, looks like 5' 3", the figure four necklock assassin."
"Oooohhhhh her." He said.
"Still don't remember." I said walking to my Xbox One.
"Nope." He answered. I sighed and started to sing her theme, "Oh her. Wait you two are a thing? Is this going to be like Tyler?"
"Yes to question 1 and no to question 2, but she and I have date night tomorrow." I said turning on my Xbox and started watching Batman Beyond we talked for a good hour at which his phone died again I rolled my eyes and ordered Pizza from Domino's as I was playing online I was playing someone.
"Matt?" Alex's voice came through my turtle beaches.
"Bae?" I said surprised, "I-I mean yeah. How did you know it was me?"
"Your gamertag is the same as you pen name." She said blankly.
"You read fan fictions?" I asked surprised.
"Yeah. Did you not know that?" She said as I defeated her character, "Damnit." She mumbled.
"I didn't know that and don't worry this is the only way I'll beat you." I could feel Alex glaring, "I meant in video games I'd never hit you physically."
"Good because this conversation could've gone dark" she said before giggling to something, "My game glitched, my character is standing during your victory."
A notification popped up on Xbox a friend request from, a "Sp1tfire510" which was Alex because I just played her and I read her bio. I marked an event on my calendar for 5/10/19 as Alex's birthday. After accepting the request I invited her to a chat party we chatted for hours, I never promised Daniel that it wouldn't be like Tyler I said it wouldn't and I didn't hear my phone ring with my headphones on until he messaged me on Xbox with the word in all caps, "LIAR!" If he thought of me as one I might as well live up to it I messaged him, "I need time to myself" he flooded me with messages and I just ignored him frankly because I didn't have time to reply and that annoyed me so I grabbed my phone and opened the Xbox One app and it was just him sending the abbreviation for bullshit over and over again I just deleted our conversation.
Matthew's POV backstage NXT Tapping
Alex and I were just watching NXT the bleach blonde d bag had just won a mach his ring name is Barron Blade and he got on the mic, "So last week we saw a hype promo for a guy who thinks he's unbreakable well" he said before a sarcastic chuckle, "you are not you are far from it, how's your dad? Late?" I stood up from the bench angry, "You know as well as I do you are not what you say you are. I challenge YOU to your match at Takeover and I vow to ruin your big debut and send you back to the bingo halls." He dropped the mic and walked backstage I pulled out my phone and typed the following tweet
MattSmithNXT "I accept see you in my debut #5301950 #gonebutNEVERforgotten #NXTTakeoverPhionex #UnbreakableEraBegin BarrondoubleBBlade"
Alex looked at me while changing into her ring gear, "Matt?" She quietly and a little timid said, "You okay?"
"Did you hear him?" I asked with a new sense of rage that I had previously not felt.
"Babe I had on some headphones I couldn't hear shit-" Alex started before I cut her off.
"He brought up my father."I said matter of factlly.
Alex walked up to me put her hand on my cheek and made me look her in the eyes, "Remember it's just a script, he probably doses't mean it. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he dose, well I gotta go job out to Bianca."
"You'll do great Alex." I said reassuringly, "I hope one day soon you'll be on this roster with me." I gave Alex a kiss on the forehead she spun around.
"I pulled out this old thing honestly I'm surprised it still fits, I haven't worn it since my last day in Shimmer I don't care what my character is as long as it's my personality." One squash match and 2 Show tappings later we were later we were done for three week, well Alex was I wasn't I had a debut to prepare for.
WWE Performance Center: the Next Day
Alex and I walked into the PC for a workout session we saw Barron Blade and I whispered to Alex, "Stay close to me."
Alex giggled, "Like that's a challenge."We walked over to the exercise ropes (those ropes that you rapidly whip I don't know what to call them because I've never use them) and Alex did some pull up nearby or attempted to grab the pull-up bar jumping trying to grab it, after a few minutes of trying not to laugh I grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her up so she could grab it, "Thanks sweetie."
Alex's POV
"Well that was… embarrassing anyway I gotta focus and tighten my grip and Coach Sara is on her way over. "
"Hey Alexis ." Coach Sara greeted can you come down for a second?"
"Uhhh… Matt, sweetie." I said.
"Yeah?" Matt said as he stopped moving towards the weight machine.
"A little help?" I asked legs swinging back and fourth he sighed as he grabbed me around the waist and gently placed me on the floor, "Thanks honey."
"You aren't needed for the next 3 show tappings sessions, it's not because we don't know what to do with you the exact opposite we have a character for you you will be developing your character in promo class with Regal and try out stuff at home make sure you decide weather your character is a face or heel and the character is, "True Perseverance" so make sure you have a strong will but you won't have a nickname are you okay with that?"
I nodded my head and tried to contain my excitement after coach Sara was out of earshot I ran up to Matt with a huge grin on my face.
He turned his head to look at me, "My grandmother would say you're grinning like a jackass."
"I got a character. I need your help creating it."
Matthew's POV, Matthew's Apartment
I stood in my doorway holding it open as Alex walked in with a laundry basket, "Now can you tell me your character?" I asked annoyed after shutting my door and locking it.
"Right its called "True Perseverance" and I'm not going to have a nickname but I need to flesh out the character and I want your help."Alex explained as she laid out her ring gear.
"Why?" I asked, "It's your character" I thought, "not mine".
"Because your character is "Unbreakable" mine is "True Perseverance" I think that their kinda similar."
I chuckled at her adorableness, "Okay they are not as similar as you think. Perseverance means, steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. So your good at overcoming obstacles, makes since due to your size. Unbreakable means, not liable to break/to be break easily. So I'm a tough nut to crack mine is spiritual yours is cerebral." I explained.
"Alright fine. Just use your creativity and can you sort through my ring gear and remove anything with a nickname, an example would be" she paused and thought for a second, "during my only stint in ROH I ha the nickname of "The Triple A, Adorable Aerial Assassin" and then there's the figure 4 necklock Assassin ."
"Why don't you use that as your heel gimmick." I suggested. And put a piece of gear in the discard pile
"I'll talk with coach Sara about that on Monday." Alex said tossing me a garment of clothing with the word adorable across the front.
"You should keep this babe." I said and tossed it onto her head.
"Why?" She asked, "I couldn't where it on tv." She said.
"Roleplaying." I stated, "We could one day be roleplaying our past gimmicks." I explained.
"Can we call our past selves roleplaying?"
"Well…" I thought for a while, "I guess not." We were silent for a long time. Eventually I got an idea after we finished sorting clothes and we were just hanging out on the couch we were sitting in silence it wasn't awkward like previous the tension was gone because we had come clean though we were less than a month into this it was nice and I couldn't help falling in love… wait, "is there an instrumental version of the song, Can't Help Falling In Love?" I reached in my pocked and looked it up on YouTube I found a violin version, "Hey Alex." I stated. As I clicked on the video."
"Yeah?" She asked
"You know" I paused to place my phone on the table then I started to sing.
"Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help""I turned to her with a smile.
"Falling in love with you" we stood up as she started to sing as we started to dance.
"Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin?
If I can't help
Falling in love with you" then I joined in as we sang in unison.
"Like a river flows" I put my hand on the small of Alex's back.
"Surely to the sea" I pulled Alex close to my chest she rested her head on my left peck listening to my heart beat fast.
"Darling, so it goes" I sang before kissing Alex on the forehead as we danced.
"Some things are meant to be" we sang matching pitches.
"Take my hand" I spun her.
"Take my whole life too" she placed her hand on my shoulder.
"But I can't help
Falling in love with you
Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Somethings are meant to be
Take my hand
Take my whole life too
For I can't help
Falling in love with you
But I can't help
Falling in love with you." We kissed as for a long moment the song ended.
As our lips parted Alex smiled and kissed me again, "How did I get so lucky?" She asked.
I looked at her my hazel eyes meeting her light brown, "You took a chance on me, my track record of relationships isn't great, but you were willing to give me a chance, I don't normally date within the workplace." Alex took me by the wrist and lead me to the couch.
"We aren't part of the NXT roster yet so technically You aren't breaking your rule."she stated resting her head on my shoulder looking at me.
"I'm considering scrapping that rule or editing it with an Alex amendment meaning that if I find a girl like you if we break up within the WWE or other promotions."
"Please don't talk like that Matt." Alex said and kissed me on the cheek. Her phone buzzed and she checked it a frown grew on her face, "I gotta go Adrian is worried."
"Okay." I replied before pulling Alex into a kiss before she could exit, "Can you come over tomorrow?" I asked with a smile.
"Tomorrow is date night." Alex reminded me, "Up for bowling?" She asked a twinkle in her eyes and a smile on her face. I nodded and she headed home.
Alex's POV
"Chill out Adrian I'm here, I'm here."I announced shutting the door and my phone buzzed I pulled it out. It was a text from Matt.
"You left your gear over here open your door." I replied and opened the door, Matt walked in and and placed the laundry bucket on my bed and left. I heard a shower cut off "I'm about to be yelled at" Adrian walked out in a towel
'Where were you?" She asked, "I was-" I cut her off
"I know, I know, you were worried but I was just across the hall getting rid of some old ring gear that I don't need my character won't have a nickname I have a lot of work to do to be prepared for my debut." I stated and walked into my room I grabbed my laptop and started making a graphic image of a possible design admittedly it was a pinup of myself with an inspirational message on it"The will to win comes from within" with some glow around the letters and I made a championship variant of a cartoon version of myself hoisting the NXT Women's Championship above my head with one hand after making a few to pitch to the merch team closer to my debut. I eventually got tired and went to bed.