AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello and a happy new month to you readers. It's May at last! And my birthday's coming soon. But that's a story for another day let's focus on the story for today!

Here we have it, another chapter. And I really wanna thank you all for the reviews in the last chapter you guys have no idea how happy you made me. Keep 'em coming people. Yeah! Anyways, let's not waste any more time, Chapter 8, read on and have a wonderful time.

WARNING: This story may contain triggering scenes and strong language not meant for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. (I love to get that outta the way)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters except my OC Kendra and other OC's I might have forgotten to mention. This story is a pure work of fiction (hence its written on) and most of the events and facts are completely made up so... I guess that's it.

Chapter 8 - Triggered

"Hold up Kends, hold up!" Sunny yelled out as a confused Kendra took off her headphones and jogged a few steps back to tend to a tired Sunny who seemed to have been on the brink of passing out on the floor. "Need...water. Can't jog an extra mile"

"Sunny come on. We've only ran half a mile. You can do it chop chop" Kendra edged on jogging around her. If looks could kill, Kendra wouldn't be dead but it be the equivalent of like a stab wound or something based on the look Sunny gave her. "Oh come on, you're the one who hire me as your 'kinda sorta maybe but totally legit personal trainer' didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I thought maybe due to the the fact that I wasn't gonna be paying you, you wouldn't be so touch on me" Sunny said finally finding a nice sturdy tree to relax on. "You can carry on if you like but as for me, I'm gonna take a breather and catch up with you"

"Now you know I'm not gonna leave you here. It totally goes against the personal trainer rule 101" Kendra said leaning on the tree as well.

"That doesn't exist"

"It does"

"Since when?"

"Since now" Kendra said with a poker face. Sunny groaned which made her laugh. "You'll live, I promise"

"Sure, that sounds legit" Sunny said with a sarcastic tone as her eyes roamed the street finally settling at waffle house. "At least let's get something to eat. My stomach has been rumbling all morning." Kendra rolled eyes but ultimately agreed as she was feeling quite hungry herself. A girl's gotta eat after all.

"Fine, if you agree to jog over there. Last one there pays for the meals!" Kendra announced suddenly before jogging off leaving a pissed off Sunny behind.

"You're a bitch!"

"I heard that!"

"You're supposed to!" Sunny retorted as Kendra got to the Waffle House entrance.

"Yeah, well you owe this bitch one free meal thank you very much" Kendra said as Sunny finally caught up with her desperately gasping for breath. "See I told you you'd make it"

"Fuck you" Sunny said jumping into the place. She immediately found the booth closest to the door and slumped down on it. "Freedom at last. Got I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!"

"I don't think it's possible to eat yourself but hey stranger things have happened" Kendra said sitting down as she released her hair from a ponytail to tie up in a loose bun. Sunny didn't even have the strength to counter and instead flipped the bird. "Real classy Miss. 'Most downloaded woman on the internet'"

"Jealous?" Sunny asked finally sitting upright sporting a proud teasing smirk on her face.

"Not in the very least, you my friend can go to hell" Kendra said with a giggle as Sunny shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Why do I even hang out with you?"

"Because I'm awesome and you love me" Kendra said cheekily.

"That's what you think" Sunny thought whilst sporting a grin on the outside.

The past few weeks after their girls day out with Sable saw Sunny and Kendra bonding thanks to Sunny's outgoing personality and Kendra's lack of - according to Sunny. Either way, they grew really close and a once weary Kendra now saw Sunny as one of her closest friends not only in the company but in her life as well and it was assumed Sunny saw her the exact way.

Assumed.

"Hello I'm Riley, what would you like..." A handsome waiter came up to them with the generic bored monotonic voice. That was until he looked up at them to see the woman who was probably on his bedroom wall as his eyes widened. "Sunny?!" He asked with a surprised expression yet a little goofy smile on his face. Sunny grinned smugly at his cuteness. "I'm such a huge fan and..."

"Yeah come on, I'll give you an autograph. A picture too if you're interested" Sunny said beaming at him as he quickly got out his phone. Kendra offered to take the picture. Riley looked like he'd just found gold while Kendra sat there amused but filled with admiration for the excited fan as she took the picture on Riley's phone. WWF fans were really one of the best people she'd ever come across.

"Thanks so much Sunny, God my friends will be so jealous" Riley said that goofy smile still plastered on his face. "Thanks for taking the picture" He said turning to Kendra with a smile.

"It was my pleasure" Kendra said with a smile of her own. Riley finally took the orders and walked away. They could've sworn they saw him skip a little on his way out.

"What a nice guy" Kendra complimented.

"And cute too. He looks like quite the catch. You wanna consider hitting someone like that" Sunny said wiggling her eyebrows at Kendra who chuckled. "I'm serious Kends"

"I know, that's why I'm laughing. He's cute and all but..."

"Boo!" Sunny said cutting Kendra off.

"What a rude interrup..."

"Sorry but I'm being a concerned friend. You need to get some Kends. It's healthy. I mean you're the first person I've seen backstage who doesn't have... or should I say doesn't wanna admit they have feelings for anyone. Not even a silly crush or anything!" Sunny exclaimed as Kendra facepalmed to stop herself from laughing hard. It was Sunny's nature to constantly pester her about her love life.

"You're crazy, you can't force it. It comes naturally" Kendra said making a fluttering expression with her hands as Sunny gave her weird look before checking her phone probably replying a text or somewhat.

"Hold that thought, I just need to do this..." She said typing away at her phone for a few seconds before finally putting it down. "...and I'm done. So where were we?"

"You were being an idiot as usual"

"Why do I even ask you questions? Remind me never to ever again" Sunny said as she saw the waiter walking up with their drinks. "Finally!"

"Here you go Sunny, coffee" He said blushing as he gave her the drink. "And here you go, orange...whoa" Riley somehow lost his footing and spilled the juice all over Kendra's grey tank top/ "Oh my God, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to. I'll get another one. Stupid" He said visibly panicking. She offered him a strained smile to show that she wasn't mad which seemed to calm him down a little.

"It's alright. Accidents happen. Don't worry Sunny here will pay for my laundry" Kendra said standing up.

"Sorry about that Kends" Sunny said empathetically.

"No worries, um I'll just go wash this off before it dries off completely. I'll be back" She said running off to the bathroom and what do you know, there were no infamous long bathroom lines. Yay for her. But anyways she managed to clean herself up to look half presentable despite the fact that she now had an orange tint on her tank top. And of course she was wet. Not in that way but... oh screw it.

On her way back to the booth she couldn't help but notice a blonde haired person sitting on the same side of Sunny but of course she couldn't see the face. She cringed inwardly having an idea of who it could be. The universe was really out to get her today.

"Speak of the devil. I was just about to inform Shawn here on how you nearly murdered me today with the gruesome jog" Sunny said with a smile as Shawn and Kendra's eyes landed on each other. Yep. Shawn. Could today get any worse?

"Nice top" Shawn commented with a smirk as Kendra looked down at her top for the first time realizing that it was not only stained but apparently transparent slightly showing off her purple bra. Sunny giggled and slapped Shawn upside the head. "What the hell was that for?"

"For being a douche." She said giggling more as Shawn gave her an innocent smile. Kendra was not amused as she gave him a sour glare.

"Sorry, I know. Here, you can have my jacket" Shawn said taking off his jacket and handing it over to Kendra.

"Just know I'm accepting this because I have to" She mumbled putting it on and zipping it up.

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome" He said with his signature smug expression. Kendra rolled her eyes as the waiter finally brought their food and with an extra glass of orange juice as well as another apology to Kendra.

"So what brings you here Shawn?" Kendra asked in an indifferent tone which Shawn caught on to as his smug expression shifted to a frown and quickly back to a smirk.

"I dunno what game you're playing but two can play it" Shawn thought stretching his arm over Sunny's shoulder.

"Well, I'm in town, she's in town and we don't really get to hang out all the time..." Shawn started.

"...so, while you were in the bathroom he texted me and said he was around the corner so I offered him breakfast with us. I hope you're not mad" Sunny said with a pout.

"Uh... I'm not mad. He's your boyfriend or whatever. Suit yourself" She said once again in an indifferent tone. Sunny shrugged digging into her food while Shawn kept his gaze fixed on Kendra. "Problem?" She asked noticing his eyes on her.

"No problem, really" Shawn said as they stared each other down, well in Kendra's case glared. Sunny looked up from her food at the both of them sensing some tension between them.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked confusedly.

"We're fine" Shawn replied.

"Just peachy." She said tearing her eyes away from him and focusing on Sunny. "So, you're free for in-ring training later in the day?" She asked Sunny in an attempt to change the topic. Luckily for her, Sunny co-operated instead of digging deeper into the tension.

"Yeah, I might consider that. I repeat might. God knows I need to get a good rest before that. I don't think I'll ever go into jogging. It's exhausting" Sunny said with a groan as Kendra and Shawn shared a laugh.

"Oh boo hoo, you need to build up the stamina sweetie" Shawn said.

"That's what I keep telling her but no I'm the bad guy" Kendra said with a chuckle. Sunny laughed sarcastically.

"Haha, yes you are. But you're still a better trainer than this one" She said playfully eyeing Shawn. "It took me a day to realize I don't wanna go down that road"

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad. And she's not even a wrestler" Shawn defended himself playing the hurt card to which Kendra rolled her eyes at. "Keep rolling them and they'll fall off someday"

"Oh she's a Hart. I think that defines it. And dare I say, she's a much better wrestler than you" Sunny teased sticking her tongue out at Shawn who sported a genuinely shocked face as Kendra smirked at him. "Yeah, I just said that"

"And it's true too" Kendra backed up.

"Impossible. I'm Shawn Michaels" He proclaimed as the girls burst into laughter.

"And I'm Kendra Hart. We can shout out our names all day but it won't change anything. The fact remains. I can kick your ass"

"Well fuck me"

"Nah, not my type" Kendra said as everyone burst out into laughter. She could say the tension in the air had cleared up a bit and she spent the next twenty minutes eating and laughing it up with Shawn and Sunny who were thankfully not acting all lovey dovey because they were in public. Thank you lord. But as she'd come to learn soon enough, today just wasn't her day.

"God I am stuffed" Kendra said burping. "Excuse me" She said blushing with slight embarrassment.

"I will never unhear that" Shawn commented with playful disgust.

"That's fine by me" She said leaning back on the chair. "Can we go now?"

"Chill, I like need to go use the bathroom. I'll probably be back in five" Sunny announced standing up.

"Great. We'll jog back to the hotel" Kendra said with an excited gleam in her eyes. Sunny winced.

"Yeah, I'll be back in ten" Sunny said running off to the bathroom. Once she was out of hearing distance, hell started to break loose bit by bit.

"So, any reason you've been avoiding me?" Shawn said out of the blue. Kendra looked up at him meeting the intense gaze he kept on her remaining silent. "That wasn't a rhetorical question"

"Oops, I forgot to answer. And you know, since you're all into questions, why have you been staring at me like a creep at every giving opportunity?" She asked crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe if you give me a good answer I might give you one to your question as well.

"You wanna know why? You seriously wanna know why? Because you've been fucking avoiding me that's why!" He whisper yelled hitting his hand on the table in the process. Not loud enough to attract the attention of the other restaurant patrons but certainly loud enough to make her flinch.

"And you're surprised?! Hello sir, you freaking kissed me! What other reaction was I supposed to have? Did you really expect me to come over to you skipping dandily or something?"

"Oh fuck that. You had no problem with that at the time! And you're the one with the 'don't let me go' stuff." Shawn said pissed off at her. How dare she? "And since we're busy raising accusing fingers let's not forget who punched me square in the face, you're lucky I don't press charges miss"

"Listen to yourself Shawn! Yes I am sorry for punching you in the face but for Christ's sake I was having a fucking panic attack, obviously I wouldn't act like that normally but no, you didn't even stop and think. I know I might have acted a bit off but you decided to take advantage of me by fucking kissing me! That's wrong on so many levels" Kendra said with a frown. Shawn sighed. She had a good point.

"Look, I'm sorry for kissing you when you weren't in the right frame of mind. And I'm sorry for always staring at you" Shawn said finally admitting to what he did wrong. But the fight was far from over.

"The only sensible thing you've said all mor..." She stopped mid sentence noticing the look on his face. "There's a but here, isn't there?"

"Damn right there is. And that is you" Kendra raised an eyebrow at what he said, with a confused expression written all over her face. "Yeah, I see right through you. You may hide under the claim of being offended and all that bullshit, but God knows the real reason you've been staying away from me is because of Bret"

"W...what? That's... you're..." She stammered trying to group her words. "Bret has nothing to..."

"Save it." Shawn started as he was prepared to let out all what he thought regardless of whether or not she was ready to hear it. "I don't know what kinda complex daddy issues in form of somewhat brother issues you have but you can't allow him to dictate your life like that."

"Shawn..."

"Shut it! I'm sick and tired of it. Him, you everything. Whether you wanna admit it or not we had a connection in that fucking elevator and you just blow me off like that, c'mon Kends, it's not fair. All because of that dick you call your brother"

"Shawn..."

"No this time you'll listen to me. Stand up to him, how hard can it be?! What kinda stupid issues do you have and..." That statement triggered an anger deep inside of her. Who the fuck was he to talk about issues? He didn't know anything about her.

"I'll stop you right there Shawn. I'm not the one with issues, you are. I don't know what makes you feel entitled to me or anything like that but get your head outta your ass and face reality. I'm not gonna pay a cent of attention to you because you want me to, I do it because I feel inclined to and quite frankly I didn't feel inclined to talk to you. Get over it. And don't bring my brother into this" She said her heart filling with anger but she managed to stay calm without blowing a fit.

Shawn laughed dryly.

"I'm sorry for not seeing it before" He said with that dry laugh again. Kendra furrowed her brows in confusion waiting for what he would say next. "You're actually scared of Bret and I think I know why. You're weak"

In a split second Shawn instantly regretted what he had said as he saw hurt on written all over her face. Weak. That was one word she hated to be associated with, she hated that word with an unbridled passion. Who was he to call her weak? WHO THE FUCK DID HE THINK HE WAS?

"Kendra, Jesus I have no idea where that came from, I..." It was too late. She acted fast as she picked up a cup of water and threw it's contents on his face before removing his jacket and tossing it at him, walking away. Shawn passed a hand threw his hair filled with regret. He didn't expect her to react like that but he knew he couldn't have expected less. He felt like such a jackass. He could've even sworn he saw tears form in her eyes. What the fuck did he do?

Meanwhile, as all this went down Sunny stood from afar watching everything that happened from beginning to end, with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Hook, line and sinker" She thought to herself as she walked over to Shawn putting on her trusty acting face. He'd need all the comfort he could get.

"Oh my God, Shawn! What happened where's Kendra?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"...at least ten thousand shirts. Yes, we need those. Not now but later like in a few weeks. I'm Vince McMahon dammit, make those shirts! Oh you will? Thanks. Have a good day" Vince said ending the call with the head of the merchandise team. "You hear that Shane? Your plan is in motion, his plan, the one you failed to come up with Russo"

"I'm sorry sir, I just... had a hard time executing and..." Vince Russo started before getting cut off by Vince.

"Shut up!" Vince ordered as the man became silent. "You're off the hook for now, but next time I mean business, I mean business. Now back to you my lovely son Shane!" Vince said his mood doing a complete 360 as he turned to face his son.

Shane who hadn't gotten a good night's sleep due to his overwhelming work thought he could get some sleep on his dad's plane. But alas, some things were not meant to be. His eyes fluttered open as he turned to his father.

"Yeah, I knew you weren't really sleeping, do I know my son or what? Don't answer Russo, it was a rhetorical question" Vince said. Shane rolled his eyes.

"Actually dad, I was sleeping. Your voice woke me up, all the yelling" Shane said not looking amused at all. That's what lack of sleep does, you know.

"I always knew I hate the voice of an angel. Anyways, now that you're up kiddo, I just wanted to inform you that your plan is in motion. Austin 3:16 shirts are currently being manufactured as we speak. I smell gold. I haven't had this feeling since Hogan and Michaels. I can practically taste the money. Speaking of which, I better get myself a bite to eat. God I'm rich" Vince said standing up and heading to the food section of his plane. Shane shook his head at his dad. That was what he woke him up for? Really?

"So, Shane thanks for saving my ass here. I just lacked the creative surge for a while. You know how I am with big plans like this" Russo said with a nervous laugh.

"You're welcome but you shouldn't be thanking me, you should definitely be thanking that intern of yours. She came up with the plan" Shane said. He could have sworn he saw a scowl on Russo's face before the man turned into a rather fake looking smile. Shane grew suspicious.

"Oh wow, which intern?" Russo asked curiously. Shane raised an eyebrow feeling something wasn't right. He decided to keep Kendra's identity anonymous.

"Uh, some dude. I don't think I recalled his name. Kyle or something, who can remember?" Shane said with a laugh. Though something told him Vince Russo already knew who he was talking about judging by the not so obvious but ultimately observable clenching of his fists. There was something sinister going on there.

"Shane my son, come make me some coffee" Vince yelled from the other room. In a split second Shane had already "fallen" asleep as his father kept calling his name and swearing as usual.

"That bitch is gonna pay" Vince Russo mumbled to himself inaudibly.

But Shane caught on to it. He was right when he thought something sinister was going on there.

And best be sure he was gonna get to the bottom of it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening...

"You know, I never had any doubt about you Sunny, I always knew you were just the person for the job. Beauty and brains" Bret said as he and Sunny shared a drink in the hotel bar. A lot of wrestlers were down there that night either playing pool, poker, beer pong, or literally just chilling. It wasn't everyday they had a day off so whenever they did they always made the most of it.

"Thanks Bret, I sometimes surprise myself as well." She said taking a sip out of her glass. "You were right though, I'm definitely sure something went on between them. God the tension at the table was so evident, it was almost impossible to play dumb. Almost"

"I told you, Shawn has had it out for her since that coffee incident and I've just been playing the big brother role. Owen advised me to kick it up a notch and here we are now"

"Oh really, Owen told you to do all this?" Sunny asked amused as Bret laughed. "Hey, I'm quoting you almighty Hitman"

"I'll just ignore that for now. So, how did you put all this together anyways?" He asked curiously. Sunny shrugged with one of her signature smiles.

"It was easy. All I had to do was make sure Shawn was around the corner and it wasn't easy, your sister made me jog my brains out. That actually hurt. But anywho, it just took me tripping the waiter, she went to clean up her top and conveniently enough Shawn cam in at the right time. Then all it just took was a little observing. Viola"

"What about the fight?" Bret asked sounding impressed with all she's told him so far. He had no doubt she was the right person for the job.

"Oh that was all on them. I left the table to watch them from a distance expecting them to be mushy or something like that, God blessed us with a fight instead. An entertaining one though I didn't hear anything" Sunny said. Bret nodded.

"That's good. I guess mission sorta accomplished. She hates him, he hates her and the world is finally balanced in perfect harmony" Bret said taking a sip out of his beer "Good beer"

"Actually, she might hate him but I'm not so sure it's like that the other way round. You should've seen how sad he was when she left. Something's definitely up, don't you think it's worth questioning?" Sunny asked suddenly realizing the situation at hand.

"I say leave it. I know my sister. If she hates him, she hates him. It's how we Harts are. Straightforward as hell" Bret said. Sunny nodded.

"You know Bret, I never got the chance to ask you this but, why are you so against this? I mean, I get why I am but why are you?" She asked. Bret laughed dryly.

"I hate Shawn, and I don't want him near my sister. Easy mathematics" He said flatly. "Don't bring this up again please" Sunny nodded as Chris came up to them definitely causing their conversation/conspiracy to come to an end.

"Hey babe" He said kissing her lips. "Up for a game of beer pong? Austin's winning and we need someone who can beat him!"

"Me? Beat Austin? It's worth a try though. Oh what the hell, let's get over there" She said running over to the beer pong table. Bret shook his head at how silly his coworkers were as his mind went back to his sister and Shawn. Finally the case was closed on that story which was good as he really didn't need that kinda stress in his life.

But he didn't know how wrong he was.

As while everyone else was busy downstairs, a remorseful Shawn Michaels stood at the door of Kendra's hotel room knocking gently silently praying that she wasn't asleep yet.

"Who is this?" She asked from inside.

"Shawn" He replied. "Please, before you react just let me in. I'm sorry okay, I'm so sorry just let me in please" Silence ensued as he didn't know what else to expect. But his heart calmed down when heard the door unlocked and saw Kendra standing there with a soft expression on her face her eyes red. It was obvious she'd been crying. Shawn's heart broke at the sight of her knowing he was somehow... okay maybe allhow (I just made that word up) responsible for this.

"Five minutes Shawn. I'm only letting you in because I don't want anyone to see you standing out here."

That's a wrap! Shawn and Kendra's fight ooo! Bret and Sunny being all evil and Shane and Vince Russo, what the hell? Literally the only righteous person in this chapter was Mr. McMahon, God knows how much I love that man.

Thanks for making it this far to this story, I never knew I could write a story up to eight chapters before but we must all take a chance. Thanks all you adoring readers for reading this book and thanks to all of you who don't think this is terrible and were kind enough to follow, favorite and review. Don't forget to do so again, Mama needs me some reviews, Lol. Till we meet in Chapter 9, peace.

Stay safe. COVID-19 is a really big Jabroni.