Finn watched lustfully as Lily convulsed on top of him. She was still trying to catch her breath when he heard her phone vibrating on the nightstand to his right. Her eyes darted from him to her phone and her arm slowly extended. "Lilith, if you answer that phone I swear to God!"
"But it's Hunter. It'll only take a second," she whispered as she slid the bar. "Hello? Hey, no, I'm not busy at all," she replied, glancing down at Finn. Finn bucked his hips upwards causing her to bite her lips in order to stifle a moan. She pretended to cough before carrying on with the conversation. "Uh huh. Okay, I'll shower, get dressed and be on my way. See you in an hour."
"What was that all about?" he asked when she tossed the phone to the side.
"I don't know," she shrugged, finding herself back in rhythm again. "He said he wants me at the arena in an hour."
"An hour? He wants you there at 1:00? Why so early? We usually don't arrive until about 4:30 and..." he paused, gripping her hips tight, groaning with release. His head fell back against the pillow and he exhaled. "What were we talking about? Oh, you going to the arena at a weird time."
"You can just drop me off if you want," she suggested, crawling off of him. "3 and a half hours is a long time to hang around an empty arena. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, go be with the guys for a change. We travel together on the road and with you getting ready to move into my building we'll practically be living together at home. The only time we're apart is during our matches," she laughed. "You deserve some male bonding time to hear about topics other than clothes, my latest Sephora haul and Ariana Grande."
"We talk about way more than that," he replied.
"Yeah, I'll occasionally throw in wrestling, my dad and sex," she snorted.
"Well at least you aren't confronting me about whose pics I like on Instagram or Tumblr rumors that you know aren't true," he said.
"Actually I was contemplating asking you about your one night stand with some ring rat that you allegedly met in a bar. Apparently it was after Raw last week. You told her that we had an argument and I was in the hotel room waiting. Then you two hooked up in a bathroom stall," she shook her head at him. "How dare you?"
Finn whistled. "Sounds like a pretty eventful night."
"I wasn't finished," Lily held up her hand. "You didn't use a condom so I expect a follow-up in a month about how she's pregnant with your baby that you'll pay her to abort."
"No, she'll carry it to term and we'll secretly raise it together while I remain with you as a cover up," he added.
"I take it I have several stepchildren by now?"
"8 and a possible, allegedly."
"A possible?"
"Yeah, this one girl apparently had a one night stand with Kenny Omega two days before hooking up with me so the father could be either of us," Finn explained.
"But you and Kenny look nothing alike so it should be easy for her to tell whose features the baby has. Eh, she probably wants to drag the paternity out for attention," Lily said, playing along. "Did you know that I'm trying to steal Dean Ambrose, a man I've barely made eye contact with, from Renee which is why she unfollowed me on Instagram even though she never followed me in the first place?"
"I believe it. You did steal me from Cathy while we were engaged," he joked.
"Engaged? Engaged in what? Constant arguments and break ups?" Lily snorted, standing to her feet naked. "I'm about to go shower, wanna join me?"
"No, you have to be there in an hour and we've already wasted about 10 minutes. You'll be 2 hours late if I join you…"
Finn cleaned up around the room until a short time later when she walked out of the bathroom looking professional in a pencil skirt and blouse. "Wow, you look nice."
"Yeah, it sounded important so I decided to look the part," she bent over to strap heels around her ankles. "Is it weird that I'm already shopping for my hall of fame gown?"
"No, not really. Mania is literally right around the corner. We were just at my parent's house celebrating New Years and now the Royal Rumble is upon us. In three weeks the Elimination Chamber, three more weeks, Fastlane, four more weeks, boom, Wrestlemania," he replied. "So just let me know when you have a dress or at least a color so I can match accordingly."
"Good deal," she said, placing her bags on the bed.
"You can leave your bags and I'll bring them when I come later," he offered.
"No thanks. I want first dibs on a spot in the locker room for a change. Every time I enter there's already clothes, makeup and bodies cluttered around. I've never seen the inside of the men's locker room but I'm sure it's way more organized than ours."
"Yeah, I doubt it," he mumbled, grabbing her bags and his keys. "Let's go."
When they arrived to the arena, Finn popped the trunk and began carrying her bags until Lily stopped him. "Fergie, you're such a gentleman and I love that but I got this. If I can lift women including Nia Jax in the ring, I think I can handle carrying 2 bags from point A to point B."
Finn acknowledged that she was right. Lily seemed to be growing as a person before his eyes. She wasn't as fragile as she was when they first met. "Alright, call me if you need me."
"You know I will," she planted a kiss on his lips before stepping up on the sidewalk. "Enjoy your freedom."
"I'll try," Finn said, ducking down into his rental.
Their relationship developed fast. Finn felt a new life had developed for himself. The memories of Cathy were long faded and replaced by new ones with Lily. With Cathy, everything was about her and it felt like dating a narcissistic celebrity even though he was the bigger name of the two.
A big difference was the time spent together. Cathy wasn't on the road much while Lily was by his side at least 21 hours a day. They were pretty much inseparable which made moments like these difficult.
Finn's plan for the evening was simple: a quick workout, shower and eat before going back to the arena. He wasn't surprised when he entered the gym and saw some of his coworkers already there.
"Is Lily in the car or is she changing into workout gear?" Sami asked, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from his face with a towel.
"She's not here," Finn informed.
Kevin released a dramatic gasp. "Is she sick and had to stay home?"
"No, she's here in Oklahoma City, but she had some business to take care of," Finn replied.
"Without you? How the hell did that happen? I haven't seen 'Fily' separated in months," Braun noted.
"Trouble in paradise?" Sami raised a brow.
"You guys would probably be amazed to hear that I'm capable of wiping my own ass without Lily, well, most of the time anyway. Lily and I are solid," Finn declared.
He began his workout with 5 sets of Cable Crossovers and 5 sets of Incline Dumbbell Presses before taking a water break.
"You better stop working on building your chest and get to work on your arms for strength to prepare yourself for Lesnar on Sunday," Braun advised. "Trust me, I've been in the ring with him."
"You know, I never thought I'd see the day Prince Devitt fucked his way to the top," Kevin stated and Braun and Sami laughed.
"What?" Finn's brow knitted in confusion.
"Come on, man. You've been in midcard hell for almost a year and then Lily appears. Shawn's daughter and H's goddaughter which would make her Vince's god-granddaughter, I think," Kevin continued. "You two start banging and now you're getting a title shot."
"God-granddaughter? That's not how it works," Finn scoffed defensively. "I mean this with love, Kevin you held the Universal title for almost 200 days and I can't think of a memorable match or moment during your entire reign. Braun, you've been chasing the title for almost 2 years now and have nothing to show for it. And Sami, uhh…"
"Calm down dude, we know you've earned it," Sami replied.
"I guess Lily's hormones are infecting his brain and now he can't take a joke," Kevin added.
"I can take a joke just fine but for future reference, I don't bring up your significant others in a joking manner so it's not okay to do it with Lily just because she's one of us," Finn firmly said.
He finished his workout some time later and hit the showers.
"If you're hungry we're about to go find something to eat," Sami offered.
Finn looked down at his watch. It was 3:45 so he had time to waste before heading to the arena. "Yeah, I can eat."
When Finn made it back to the arena, Lily was nowhere in sight. He decided to put his bags down in the locker room. He stepped over a towel and a pair of discarded briefs, chuckling at Lily's assumption that the men's locker room was organized.
By the time he walked around backstage again, he saw her walking alongside Triple H. They were engaged in conversation when Lily looked up and spotted him, quickly breaking away from H.
"Hello Gorgeous," she greeted.
"Hello yourself," he returned, catching eyes with H. Finn wasn't foolish enough to think H or Shawn liked him all of a sudden but they didn't glare every time they saw his face or cursed him under their breaths anymore and that was more than Finn thought was possible just a few months ago.
"I know it was only a few hours but I missed you!" she cooed, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Of course you did, clinger," he replied, kissing her forehead. "What were you doing here all that time anyway?"
"Do you remember that nonexistent anti-underage drinking project I lied about on national television? It's been a month now and the public began asking questions so we had to deliver on it. Hunter gathered some parents who've lost their children to underage drinking and we filmed some stuff. It was really sad like those anti-smoking commercials where they show former smokers as adults with the effects from smoking."
"Oh, that's great. Well, not great considering the subject but you know what I mean," he said.
"Effective?"
"Exactly," he confirmed with a nod.
"Come on, Lily, we have to talk," H called for her.
Lily groaned. "Hunter, we had almost 4 hours to talk. I'm ready to talk to my boyfriend now."
H grimaced. "Yeah, we talked about business, this is about work."
"Isn't work and business the same thing?" Lily raised a brow.
"Lily!" H hissed.
"Fine," Lily sighed, following him. She didn't even get a chance to ask Finn how things went with the guys. She'd been thinking a lot about what her father said about moving in too fast being the death of relationships and while that was still happening, she wanted to allow him space to miss her every now and then.
"I know you and Finn are together, Lily. So you don't have to 'my boyfriend' this and 'my boyfriend' that all the time. It's starting to feel like you're trying to rub it in my face," Hunter held open the door to his office for her to enter.
"Excuse me? Despite what you may think the world doesn't revolve around you, Paul Levesque."
"You know, you've gotten very smug since Shawn decided to look the other way when it came to your relationship," he replied taking a seat.
"You would know considering your entire existence is smug."
"See, that's exactly what I mean. Why are we wasting money shooting an ad campaign that'll be shown in millions of homes across the country in an attempt to clean up your image when you're destined to be heel anyway!"
"I'm destined to be heel because I'm calling you out on your shit? If more people did that, there wouldn't be a face on Raw or Smackdown. NXT seems to be the only brand that's happy but maybe that's because you cater to the smarks down there. You and my dad made our lives hell after you found out so excuse me for enjoying my relationship now that I have permission to do so."
"No, you're destined to be heel because while you're over as a face and the crowd responds to you, what reason do they have to cheer you besides putting on good matches and being Shawn's daughter?"
"What reason do I have to be heel?"
"That's the good thing about being heel, you can do whatever the hell you want for whatever reason you want."
"I'm assuming you have my reason?"
"Natalya."
Lily squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Please don't tell me we're reviving the Bret vs Shawn angle again. I was lowkey happy that it was derailed. That's one thing I can thank Cathy for."
"The only resemblance it'll have is that you're a Michaels and she's a Hart. It'll be fresh and new and you can make it your own."
"What reason do I have to turn on Natty. She doesn't really have anything going on besides her dad recently…" Lily trailed off when he saw the look on his face. "No, no! Absolutely not. I can't. I won't."
"Why not?"
"Because I have a father..."
"Everyone has a father, Lily..."
"That's just mean and it'll be worse than Paige throwing Reid's death in Charlotte's face and didn't the Riott Squad already attack her over Jim's death a few weeks ago? It'll be redundant," she pointed out.
"It'll be from a daughter to daughter point of view," he replied. "And you have to really light into her. It can't be one of those cute, mean girl promo that Alexa does. There's no other way."
"Do I cost her a match or something?"
"No, she's tagging with Ronda against Sasha and Bayley but you'll have a backstage segment tonight and you can go from there. I'll talk to Nattie," he told her.
Lily watched the first segment in front of the monitors. Paul Heymen and Brock were out first and then Vince went on about David and Goliath. Braun walked out and then Finn. Lily didn't hear a word Finn said because she was too busy comparing his size to Brock's in horror.
"Hey, I heard we're supposed to be doing something tonight?" Nattie said from behind. "Are we going to be restarting our feud?"
"I'm not sure but I'm turning tonight and I want to apologize in advance for anything that I say…"
"What will you be saying?"
"I don't know yet," she, somewhat hesitantly, replied, "but it'll involve your dad and I know that's a touchy subject."
"Well, I allowed it to be used during the Riott Squad angle so I guess it'll be okay," Nattie shrugged.
"You do realize that it won't be nice, right?"
"What heel turn promo is nice?" Nattie snorted. "Do what you have to do."
"Okay then," Lily considered that her greenlight.
Later in the show, there was an Alexa segment featuring Rumble entrants and Lily's backstage segment was due afterwards.
The segment began with Lily walking backstage when Charly stopped her. Nattie and Ronda were seen in the background. "Lily, the Royal Rumble is 6 nights away and you haven't officially thrown your name into the hat. With Alexa Bliss and Lacey Evans announcing their entry a few minutes ago, there are now only 7 slots left."
"My father is a 2 time, back to back, year '95 and '96, Royal Rumble winner and I plan on following in his footsteps so yes, Charly, I'm entering. My dad's lucky numbers were 1 and 18 so hopefully… Wait, what are you staring at?" Lily followed Charly's gaze to Nattie who was watching them sadly.
Charly cleared her throat. "With the death of Natalya's father still fresh do you think speaking about your father so openly is a good idea?"
"Nattie never gave a damn about her father until the day he died so why should I?" Lily replied nonchalantly.
"Excuse me?" Nattie approached her.
"You heard me," Lily stepped in her face. "If you didn't repetitively say "my uncle Bret" a million times over the course of your career we'd swear he was your father as evidenced by your theme, your ring attire, you using his finisher...horribly and he's the one who has always made appearances in your corner. Now all of a sudden you care about Jim for the sake of sympathy cheers because you literally have nothing else going for yourself after over a decade here. At first I was upset that my big moment was derailed at Evolution but when I sat back and thought about it, it probably saved my career because you suck the life out of everything you're involved with and a boring, extended feud with you would've only dropped my value and unlike you I actually have a future here so go home to your cats and your equally irrelevant husband," Lily paused when she saw Nattie's eyes watering and heard the crowd booing. She knew it was time to wrap this up. She turned to look into the camera. "Dad, even if you were a jobber, I'd still stand here proud to be the daughter of Shawn Michaels. I'm glad I have the opportunity to acknowledge you before it's too late."
With that, Lily smirked, walking away leaving behind a stunned Nattie.
"And...cut," the cameraman said.
"Nattie, uhm," Lily began.
"Who wrote that for you?" Nattie questioned.
"It was m-"
"Me," Hunter said from behind. "We needed Lily to turn and the easiest way to get her cheap heel heat was like this."
"Oh, I see…" Nattie nodded.
"Are you going to be okay?" Lily asked. "I know you have a match."
"Yeah," Nattie replied, wiping her eyes.
"I really am sorry," Lily apologized.
"Oh, I'm not mad at you. I know you were only following the script," she replied.
"Well, the part where I addressed my dad directly was improvised," Lily admitted, wanting to take some of the blame.
"Oh, that part as well as the promo was hard for me to hear but it made good TV and did its job. I've learned over the years that you can't be sensitive in this line of work because you never know what's going to be brought up in a promo. Like I said, I'm not mad. For what it's worth, you did a good job writing it, Hunter and you did a great job delivering it, Lily," Nattie complimented them. "Well, I have a match so I'm going to go stretch and prepare myself."
"Okay," Lily waved behind her. "Why did you claim it, Hunter?"
"Because you obviously didn't want to. I technically directed you to do it so I'll own it. I'm just trying to keep the peace. While it was an outstanding heel promo, it could cause a rift in the locker room if they found out that pretty little Lily is capable of such unscripted viciousness."
Lily kept her head down on her way to the locker room.
"That was so mean, I loved it," Alexa was in her face as soon as she entered. "You wrote that yourself, huh?"
"I absolutely did not," Lily lied.
"Oh please, I know the difference between a generic WWE promo and something off script," Alexa sneered.
"You have no idea what you're talking about. Only a few lines of that promo belonged to me and I've already spoken to Nattie about it."
"You're forgetting that we did shoot promos on each other. I know your style," Alexa shot back.
"I'm glad to hear that you've been cleared because your cheesy segments were getting stale," Lily snapped.
"And there we have it," Alexa clapped.
"You have nothing. I haven't seen the full list of entrants, the order that we're going in and I definitely don't know who's winning but I pray to God that it's me who gets to eliminate you," Lily gathered her bags. "Or maybe not because if you get another concussion hitting the floor I don't want your basement dwelling neckbeard fans coming after me."
"Pray to God...or Triple H?" Alexa smirked.
"With all the underserved opportunities you've been awarded since you hit the main roster, don't you dare play that card," Lily rolled her eyes.
"Meow! Put the claws away," Alexa scoffed. "And here I thought we were friends now."
"We are, can't tell?" Lily winked, throwing her duffel bag over her shoulder. "If we keep this up we'll be ready for a tag title run."
"I'll turn face just to avoid being stuck with you," Alexa gagged.
"I'd love to see you face since the excuse you used in interviews to excuse your lazy and limited moveset is being heel," Lily shot back. "Bring back your NXT stuff back when you were actually athletic."
"Your moveset looks like you put it together watching YouTube clips not to mention all the stuff you stole from your boyfriend and let's not forget your daddy's finisher. It's nothing to brag about," Alexa countered.
"At least it's entertaining and unpredictable like your matches," Lily replied. "I've wasted too much time already. I need to get back to the hotel."
"I guess you're in a hurry to have viagra sex with your 75 year old boyfriend," Alexa murmured.
"That too but unlike you I wrestled at all three houseshows this weekend so I need my rest for Sunday. Also, you're 10 years younger than him so I guess that makes you 65."
"I missed the days before you became a Michaels when you sat quietly in the corner and knew your place…"
"Ah, yes, the good ole days when you accidentally almost broke my ankle. But of course, that was before we became friends," Lily rebutted. "See you at the Rumble."
Lily was on the hotel bed brushing her hair. She heard the shower turn off at the same time her phone vibrated by her thigh. "Hello Father."
"Daughter, the one Monday I decide to stay home, you decide to earn the name Michaels. You were ruthless. Even your mom said it was mean," Shawn gushed.
"Figures you'd like it," Lily snorted in reply.
"What was there not to like. You want to turn heel, you have to embrace it with no regrets."
"But I didn't want to. Hunter made me do it," Lily whined.
"I've already talked to Hunter and he didn't write a single word you said out there. Very heelish thoughts for someone who didn't want to…"
The bathroom door swung open and Finn stood shirtless with water glistening down his abs came into view.
"I have some something to take care of so I'll talk to you later," Lily whispered.
"Something to take care of at this time of the night? Oh," he grumbled before hanging up.
"I heard you on the phone so I hung around in there for a minute. While I was in there I did a little Twitter browsing and the general consensus is that it was harsh but overall it getting great reviews," he said. "I didn't think they'd have you take it that far but after they used Roman's cancer situation to further the Ambrose vs Rollins feud I'm not surprised at anything they'll cook up."
"I have a confession to make…." she looked at him with an expression of nervous guilt.
"Hmm?"
"Promise you won't be mad?"
"Who is he and how long have you been seeing him?" he joked.
"Fergal Devitt and for awhile now."
"What is it?"
"There was no they. Hunter asked me to turn heel on Nattie and suggested I do it by attacking Jim. The rest was me. If I randomly physically attacked her for no reason the crowd would've cheered because that's the way things are nowadays. I had to be efficient. I feel horrible especially when she cried. I spoke to her right before and she told me to do what I had to do and I did. It's like I started and couldn't stop," Lily blurted.
Finn's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, wow."
Lily covered her face. "I know."
"That was actually an impressed wow," he clarified.
"Why?"
"Because that was a great heel promo. The best promos have a touch of reality in them and some of what you said was indeed true about her being more associated with Bret than Jim. I must say it's promo of the year."
"It's only January," she blinked.
"Promo of the year...so far," he added.
"What about you. Seeing you standing in the ring with Brock had me shaking a little but you held your own in front of him as well as Vince and I'm so proud of you. I can't wait to see the outcome Sunday night," she smiled.
"Let's talk about Sunday at around noon. My parents are coming to Phoenix for the show and I was wondering if your parents could come too. Well, I know Shawn always comes but your mom as well so they can all meet at lunch," he requested.
"Oh, okay," Lily agreed but she was nervous. Shawn seemed okay now but she didn't know how he'd react to meeting Finn's family.
Lily: Emergency!
Mom: What?
Lily: Can you come to Phoenix Sunday?
Mom: Sure. You must be winning?
Lily: Based on early WM card speculation, nope. I think I'm a few years away from a Rumble win. Fergal's parents will be in town and he wants all of you to meet.
Mom: …..
Lily: Yeah, lol. I need you to get dad on board.
Mom: Honey, I'm not a miracle worker but I'll try my best to get him there.
Their mothers seemed to get along well but there was obvious tensions between the fathers. Lily was embarrassed from the moment Shawn walked in. Finn and Fintan were dressed in suits. Herself, her mom and Leonie were wearing dresses but Shawn looked like he was ready to go hunting wearing camouflage pants, a black T-shirt and a hat. It showed that he didn't take this seriously.
"Shawn, I'm just going to say it," Fintan laid his fork down. "My son has been wrestling since 2000 against opponents big and small and I've never seen him as beat down as he was when he returned home after you put your hands on him. I don't appreciate the black eye and busted lip that you gave my son. My son looked up to you as a lad and this is what he got. I guess that's why they tell you to never meet your heroes."
"Your son met me years ago and things were fine but of course he hadn't violated my daughter in my own house yet! Your son should've been ashamed of himself but he couldn't have been walking around with that Cheshire Cat grin! Your son is lucky that a black eye and busted lip was all he got" Shawn hissed.
"Violated?" Fintan repeated. "Your daughter flew 13 hours to be with my son after the fact so he must've violated her pretty good."
Shawn sat up in his seat. "Who the hell does this overgrown leprechaun think he is?"
"Dad!" If Lily sank any lower in her chair she'd be on the floor.
"What Lily? I'm here. What more do you want?"
"For you to not embarrass me in front of my future in-laws," she scolded.
"Your alleged future father in-law started it!"
"Maybe Mr. Devitt did say something first but your body language from the moment you entered the room has been hostile! What was the point of approving of our relationship if you're still going to behave this way?"
"I just wanted you happy without having to choose between us. I still think you're too young right now and I still don't forgive him for what he did in San Antonio. It doesn't matter anymore because you're together now and I've come to terms with it but now I just think everything is moving too goddamn fast. You've been talking about shacking up and now we're on a parental meet and greet. At the rate you're going you two will probably elope the next time Raw goes to Vegas. That was a big lunch you ordered so you're probably eating for two," Shawn ranted.
"Shawn, like you said, none of it matters anymore because they're together now. As far as them moving too fast, only they know what's right for their situation and the pace that it happens. The only thing that we as parents should be focused on is the fact that our children are happy together," Leonie spoke trying to defuse things.
That seemed to calm things down but now no one was speaking at all. The only thing she could hear was the harsh sound of silverware clattering against plates and it went on for 5 long and awkward minutes. She pushed her chair away from the table. "I'm going to the bathroom."
Lily was skeptical of this meeting from the start and this little confrontation proved that she was right. Maybe it would've been a good idea in about 6 months but now, the wounds were still fresh on the drama that transpired after they were found out. She didn't expect Finn's parents to just forget about their son returning in that condition so she understood the animosity from Fintan.
"Honey?" Her mom knocked on the bathroom door. "It's me and Fergal is here, too."
"This was a disaster! We finally get somewhat peace between Fergal and Dad and now Dad hates Fintan!"
"They don't hate each other. It's just a pissing contest," Finn replied.
"They should take their pissing contests to the bathroom where it belongs…" Lily muttered.
"Let's just give her some space, Fergal, come on."
"Yes ma'am," Finn agreed. "Cathy?!"
"Cathy?" Lily whispered aloud, leaning against the door to listen close.
"Are you going through some kind of crisis, Fergal?" Cathy's voice was heard on the other side of the door. "First you go for the barely legal teen and now you have a MILF hanging on your arm? Which porn genre is next?"
"I can tell you which porn genre he won't be experimenting with and that's Sex with Ex!" Lily heard her mom say.
"Wait, who are you?"
"Cathy, this is Lily's mom and Shawn's wife," Finn introduced.
"Oh," was all Cathy could muster.
"Yeah, oh! I've heard about the drama you've caused my daughter and if this were '98 you'd be on the floor right now but fortunately for you it's 2019 and I've decided not to embarrass my husband and daughter. Fergal, I'll be at the table."
"What are you doing here, Cathy?" Finn asked with a sigh.
"I'm not allowed to get hungry and eat?" Cathy questioned.
"All of the restaurants in Phoenix and you decide to eat here? Coincidentally after Lily puts the menu on Snapchat," he said. "Is your boyfriend with you?"
"Boyfriend?" Cathy sounded confused.
"You know, the REAL man that you haven't had in soooooo long," Finn interrogated.
"I knew she was spying on my conversation. I knew it! Jealous?"
"The situation that we're in at this moment, I don't think you can accuse anyone of spying. And no, I'm not jealous. I'd actually be ecstatic if you found someone new so you'd leave Lily and me alone!"
"When I walked in I thought I saw Fintan and Leonie. The parents are meeting, how cute. Shawn looked super thrilled. I think I'm going to go have a chat with Leonie," Lily heard the sound of heels clicking away.
"Cathy!" Finn shouted but his footsteps didn't retreat after her.
Lily opened the door. "I knew she was crazy but now she's added stalker. And because she presents to be perfect to Hunter and higher management, I don't know what can be done to get her fired so we can be free from her once and for all. And what the hell does she have to talk to your mom about?"
"I have no idea. Cathy thinks my mum likes her but my mum is a good actress," Finn revealed.
Lily stopped in her tracks. "I think your mom likes me, too?! What is the truth?"
"Oh, no, she legitimately likes you. If she didn't she would've expressed that when we broke up that time but all she was concerned with was us reconciling."
As Lily weaved through the tables, she noticed that Cathy had Leonie pulled to the side by the bar. She appeared to be explaining something and it worried Lily because Leonie was nodding with understanding.
"She tried to get me over there too but I wasn't going to participate in that fakery," Fintan said when Lily and Finn sat down.
The conversation ended and while Cathy walked off with her head held high, Lily could tell that things didn't go as planned.
"What happened, Mum?"
"A sob story about how she and Fergal's relationship didn't end well and how he didn't give them a fair chance to fix things," Leonie replied.
"And what did you say?" Finn questioned.
"That it was time for her to move on because you clearly have, with Lily."
"Pathetic," Lily's mom shook her head.
Lily looked down at the table and the plates were gone. Apparently, they'd called for the check while she was still in the bathroom. Fintan confirmed this when he went in his wallet and left a tip on the table and then Shawn reconfirmed it by going into his wallet and leaving a bigger tip. Lily motioned between Shawn and Fintan. "So before we leave are we good here?"
"I'm fine, Lily, I just had to get that off of my chest and I did," Fintan said.
"Dad?" Lily prompted.
"I'm fine as well. While I thought this meeting was a little premature, I wouldn't mind trying this again at a later date," Shawn replied.
"Did you hear my dad's eating for two comment? Why does everyone keep throwing pregnancy at me? First the girls in the locker room did a betting pool where they speculated that I was out having an abortion, then Alexa in her promo, then you at the hospital and now him," Lily yelled through the closed bathroom door of her hotel room. "Would you happen to have a pair of scissors?"
"Yeah, look in my bag by the tub," Finn yelled back. "There were a few awkward moments but overall I think it went well."
"Just a few?" Lily asked. She took one last selfie to remember herself by. "I'm not going to lie that 'violated her pretty good' comment from Fintan caught me off guard. I wanted to laugh but it wouldn't have been appropriate."
"Yeah, me too," he agreed.
She took the scissors and began cutting her hair carelessly. She could feel long strands sliding down her arms and chest and into the sink. "I told my dad to mention the Cathy incident to Hunter. Obviously it's not enough to get her future endeavored but it's enough to paint her in a negative light."
"And if she keeps it up we can continue building a case against her," he agreed. "What did she think? Even if things went in her favor, did she think my mum would force us back together?"
"My thoughts exactly," Lily took a step back and turned her head from left to right. Her hands came up and touched the short hair, which barely came to the tips of her ear lobes on the sides but it was an inch or so longer at the front. You could tell that it was an unprofessional cut. Her face looked the same but different. She saw bone structure that she hadn't noticed, her neck seemed longer and her lips looked fuller. "Fergal, I'm about to come out of the bathroom."
"O...kay? I don't recall you ever announcing it before," he sounded cautious.
"Close your eyes," she ordered him.
"Lilith, as much as it pains me to say this, if this is some kind of sex thing we really don't have time for it. You've never been in the Rumble before so you don't know this but you have to be there super early so you can find out your number, who you'll be eliminating and who will be eliminating you not to mention practice whatever big spots you'll have," he said.
"I know, I know but it's not a sex thing. Just close your eyes."
"They're closed," he complied.
She cracked the door open to see that his eyes were indeed close. She stood a few steps away from him and took a deep breath. "Okay!"
His eyes slowly parted and his mouth fell open in shock. He stood and circled her like a shark. "Having a beautiful face saved you because you butchered whatever style you were going for. It's like you saw 3 different haircuts and couldn't settle on one so you decided to take the front of one, the sides of the other and the back of another."
"It's my heel look. Who was going to take me seriously as a threat looking like a living breathing hybrid of Barbie and my dad back when he was pretty? Plus it's unique. The last woman with short hair in WWE was Molly Holly and that was back in like '05. I guess Ruby counts but she has the alternative, gothic thing going on so it's expected of her. As for everyone else, heel or face, no one ever modifies their look. They'll turn heel and show up at the next show scowling and walking slower. At most they'll change their gear from colorful to dark," she explained her actions.
"Well, if that's the case it works and I admire you for wanting to try something different. I never would've guessed that you'd spontaneously chop your hair off," his expression was blank like as if he was trying to come to a verdict.
"Actually, it wasn't spontaneous. I've been thinking about it all week and with the show starting in a few hours it was now or never. If you don't like it, don't worry because my hair grows fast so it'll be shoulder length by Mania."
Finn didn't reply as he walked into the bathroom and came back out with the scissors. He stood behind her and began shaping it up. When he finished it was a pixie cut. "Now, I like it."
"Yeah, it looks so much better. I was going to ask how you knew how to cut but I forgot you've been a man with short hair for 37 years," Lily walked over to her bag and pulled out a long, blonde wig. She fixed it on her head before placing a baseball cap on top. "Let's go!"
"I don't get it. What was the point of cutting your hair just to wear a wig?"
"A decoy. It's no fun if I walk in with it. It's all about the reveal, babe…"
As of right now, this would be the biggest venue Lily performed in seeing as the event was taking place in a baseball stadium tonight.
Everything Finn told her about the Rumble process was correct. She now knew her entry number, she was going to spend a good amount of time in the match, she was going to eliminate multiple opponents and she was overly satisfied with the person who would eliminate her. Overall it looked like a great showing for her.
"And please be mindful of the way you're tossed," Shawn coached her after she exited the locker room.
"I'm not worried about my landing, Dad," Lily replied.
"You should be. The last thing you need is your shoulder dislocated or broken."
"Dad, trust me. When my feet touched the floor I'm going to be in control of it."
"I see you changed your gear."
'That's not the only thing I changed,' she thought to herself wearing a white bralette top with red trimming, white biker shorts with an upside down heartbreak (her new logo) on the butt, kneepads and white and red wrestling boots. "I'm sure you do now that my butt isn't hanging out anymore."
"Yeah, that's definitely a plus," he mumbled. "Now go on. I see all of the girls heading in one direction so I assume you need to join them."
"Yeah, a group picture of all 30 entrants like last year," she replied.
"Lily, that blue hat matches nothing," the always color coordinated Charlotte commented as they lined up.
"Oh, I forgot that it was still on" Lily replied, removing it.
"Did you add extensions because I don't recall your hair being this long on Monday?" Liv asked, running her fingers through it from behind.
"It's a wig actually and you're right, my real hair is much shorter than this," Lily answered casually.
"I hope that wig is secured tight because if it falls off during the action you'll become a viral meme before the show is over," Alicia added.
"Alright, Lily, you're entering at number 8 and your countdown clock starts...now," Hunter notified and the 10 second clock began. Feelings of anxiety started to build in the pit of her stomach as the clock ticked down to 3 seconds. The loud buzzer sounded and her theme hit. "Go!"
"Remember, be mindful of your fall!" Shawn yelled as she moved toward the dugout where they'd enter.
Boos rained down on her as she walked out but she heard a substantial amount of cheers as well. The women in the ring already seemed to clear a path leaving Nattie in the middle in fighting position. Lily did the 'John Cena run' down the ramp. Neither wasted time with pleasantries, going straight to it with stiff, strike exchanges that the crowd seemed to love.
The rest of the women went back to business with each other around them. Lily delivered a roundhouse kick to Nattie's head which dropped her to the canvas. Now her focus was getting Nattie out of there. She tried to drag her but Nattie's body was dead weight. Finally, Nattie moved with her to get a few inches closer to the ropes. That's when Lily felt her wig being snatched off from behind just the way they'd discussed prior to the match.
She heard gasps from the audience but the loudest came from her mom sitting front row. When Lily turned around, Naomi was standing there dangling the blonde locks in a taunting manner but Lily didn't look embarrassed as she confidently ran a hand through her short hair.
They faced off for a short period of time and Naomi got in a hurricanrana and her high kicks or whatever she called them. She bounced off the ropes of the Rear View but Lily superkicked her in the ass. She was going to attempt to eliminate her but the countdown began again, distracting her. Peyton Royce.
Lily made it her point to go around the ring attacking everyone she saw. The place was getting cluttered so it was time to start tossing. She eliminated Mickie James.
Ember attempted to eliminate Naomi who tried to survive until the already eliminated Mandy broke things up and eliminated Naomi. It wasn't planned but Lily thinking fast picked up her discarded wig and threw it at her on the floor. "And take this with you because it'll be the only prize you'll be getting tonight!"
The next time the buzzer sounded, it was the one person she'd been waiting on, Alexa. Once Alexa made it inside the ring, she reached up to touch Lily's hair but Lily grabbed her forearm and twisted it behind her back turning Alexa with her arm still in the hold. She walked Alexa to the rope from behind like a cop walks a handcuffed criminal to the car. But that would've been too easy. Alexa kicked backwards, creating space between them and punched Lily before pushing her into a crowd of already brawling women in order to escape.
Lily eliminated both Iconiics. The bodies were getting scarce and everyone seemed to be laid out on the canvas except for her and Charlotte on the other side of the ring. The crowd seemed excited for this Flair/Michaels standoff and she hoped Hunter took note so they could explore a feud in the future.
Charlotte stood over Lily and "Woo'd" and the crowd answered with their own woos. Because Charlotte was so much taller, Lily decided to lower her by kicking her in the thigh. When Charlotte bent in pain, Lily began beating her in the back. Charlotte fought out and began attacking Lily with chops and took a couple steps back to deliver a big boot that knocked Lily over the top rope. Charlotte turned around without making sure Lily hit the ground. Just like Shawn did when he won his rumble, Lily dangled her feet, flipping back over the top rope which the crowd popped for.
The last two entrants Becky and Carmella were now in the ring. It was now down to the final 7: herself, Nia, Alexa, Carmella, Nattie, Charlotte, Becky.
Nattie was in front of the ropes battling Nia. It was time. She snuck out of Nattie's line of vision and delivered Sweet Chin Music with force that knocked Nattie over the top rope. That lead to some boos especially when Lily celebrated it. Carmella had Alexa on the verge of elimination so Lily went over to help seal the deal to rid the match of Little Miss Bliss.
Now that that was over, she climbed over the top rope herself and walked out. The crowd seemed confused at first but when they realized that she just eliminated herself on purpose they were pissed. She talked into the camera as she walked away. "I've lasted over 50 minutes and I've eliminated 5 women with Nattie being the cherry on top so my job here is done. I've put my hands on all 29 competitors and the best thing about that is none of them got to return the favor by eliminating me. Oh and spoiler alert, it's between Flair and Lynch."
"Lily, you were amazing out there. I'm so proud of you," Shawn whispered into Lily's hair as he hugged her.
"You definitely had quite a few memorable moments out there," Hunter nodded in agreement. "The Nattie confrontation, the Flair vs Michaels standoff and not to mention the wig thing. Naomi has been using the 'snatch you bald' thing for almost a year now and I think this is the first time she's literally done it."
"What the hell have you done to your hair anyway?" Shawn asked. "Unlike the other stuff you've pulled in the last few months, I can't even shift the blame to Balor because I'm sure he didn't talk you into getting a lesbian haircut. Your mother is going to kill you."
"I'm sure. I'd glance over at her occasionally while I was in the ring and her expression was still frozen in shock long after the wig was removed," Lily laughed.
She knew it was time to locate Finn. He wasn't that far away from gorilla. "Aww, no paint tonight?"
"Unfortunately no," he shook his head. "You kicked ass out there tonight. I was watching but when you eliminated yourself I was done. No disrespect to the other ladies but you're my highlight."
"Aww, thanks," Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brock walking by. She turned her head to get the full scope and shirtless he earned his nickname, Beast. "Please be safe."
"Calm down, Lilith, I'm not going to die out there. The worse case scenario is getting my forehead busted open or landing wrong during a suplex."
"Landing wrong on your neck and breaking it or worse, paralyzing yourself!" she pouted. "You know what, I'm going to catering. I can't watch."
"Baby, I'll be fine," he assured her. "Walk me to gorilla?"
The match began and Lily watched intently, cringing every time Brock was on offense but Finn held his own. In fact this was the most she'd ever seen Lesnar sell. Finn came across very dominant and aggressive and for a minute she thought he'd actually win but when Brock got him in the Kimora Lock she knew it was over and began walking to gorilla to meet him when he returned. She wasn't really surprised by the outcome. No one would be taking the title off of Brock at this point simply because they were now on the road to Wrestlemania and Brock was going to carry it at least until then.
"...the winner and still Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar."
Lily was disappointed with the outcome but she wasn't surprised. No one was going to take the title off of Brock at this point simply because they were on the road to Wrestlemania and he was walking in as champ. She didn't understand why the company seemed insistent on keeping the title on Brock despite him not touring the world with the title, not promoting it, not a Top 10 merch seller and not really moving ratings. Finn deserved better but that was just her opinion because she never heard him complain about his status with the company.
She waited for him to enter gorilla until approaching. She gave him a hug and he squeezed her. "You did so good out there. Despite not winning, you were booked to look strong and showed the world that you belong in the main event scene. Maybe when he finally gets the hell out of here you'll have a run with the title."
"Thanks, Lilith. I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Finn, we need to film your post-match comments for the website," Hunter requested.
"Let me get out of the way," Lily took a step back.
"No, stay," Finn replied, pulling her back to his side. "I want you to be apart of this moment."
"Cathy!" Hunter yelled.
"Oh no," Lily grumbled.
"Yes?" Cathy asked when she rounded the corner.
"I need you to interview Balor," Hunter told her and Lily assumed this was her punishment for her interference earlier.
"What? But Hunter, I'm not prepared for this?" Cathy tried in an attempt to talk her way out of it.
Hunter didn't want to hear it. "Cathy, what's there to prepare? All you're doing is pointing a mic to ask basic questions and nod like you're listening intently."
Cathy composed herself before the camera started rolling. "I'm here with Finn Balor after his loss to Brock Lesnar. Finn, can I have your comments?"
Finn spoke about his loss while Lily paid attention to him, rubbing his arm comfortingly. He finished his comments with, "thanks Cathy."
"I didn't even look at her," Lily said.
"I noticed," he replied.
"If I've learned nothing more from Hunter it's that PR matters. She's already going to have sympathy because she had to be professional enough to interview her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend. That alone is enough to get the 'poor Cathy' narrative started. The public doesn't know about all the stuff she's done behind closed doors so if I said or did anything shady I'd look like I'm threatened by the ex when it's the other way around. I don't know, I would've looked like the bad guy."
"Well, you are a heel now," he pointed out.
"Oh, yeah," Lily remembered. She rubbed his shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just a little sore but that's about it, I think."
"I know your brother is here too so you'll probably go out for drinks with him after the show is over but when you make it to the hotel I'll run you a hot bath to soak that soreness away and then we can have loser sex since I didn't win either."
A throat cleared behind them and they turned to find Shawn. "I came here to congratulate Finn on a great match but I changed my mind."
Lily laughed. "Dad, earlier you accused me of being pregnant so you obviously know that we're an active couple."
"Yeah but I don't need to hear about it," he grumbled.