The Raw before MITB….
For the last week Finn had been traveling on the Raw European tour, facing Elias. Lily didn't know if this was done for her benefit or because he was previously advertised before the draft but he'd spent the last week with her and she didn't care. It felt like old times especially when they had the opportunity to visit his parents in Ireland. She thought this would make her feel better but she knew when they made it back to America, he'd rejoin Smackdown and she'd be back to square one.
"Hello, Godfather," Lily smiled. She tried to be on her best behavior around Hunter for obvious reasons for the last week. She didn't want to do, say or give him any reason to retaliate against her. She sat in front of him in his office about an hour before show time.
"Lily, you've been in a good mood lately, I see. Wonder why," he snorted. "What brings you to my office tonight?"
"The pay per view is Sunday and I was wondering if you've come to a decision about the results..." she inquired.
"Yes, I have," he nodded. "You're retaining."
Lily's hopeful expression dropped. "You never planned on moving me to Smackdown, did you?"
"You and Alexa are killing each other in the promos and the backlash of your win has faded. Why stop the momentum now? Is Finn really more important than your career?" he asked and she didn't immediately answer. "Are you serious right now? Because if that's the case I'll gladly send you to Smackdown...but it's going to come at a price. It's up to you to decide whether or not you want to pay it. You'll have until Sunday to think about it."
Lily's eyes widened when she heard his next words.
"I, as a five time women's champion, have nothing to prove to you, a rookie," Alexa was in the middle of her promo against Lily. "You want me to pull out all the stops but the truth of the matter is, all I'd really have to do is ask that Finn be banned from the arena during our match because everyone in the back knows that you can't function without him."
"Focus on your fiancé...oh wait, he ran for the hills leaving you behind with a pig. How fitting," Lily retorted. "Alexa, I'm so confident I'll win this match that I'm adding my own stipulation. If I lose, I'll relinquish my rematch clause and never challenge you for the title again. As a matter of fact, I'll be so embarrassed I'll take it a step further and never challenge for the RAW title ever again."
"What do you think I should do?" Lily asked Finn after the show.
"I can't make this decision for you," he shook his head, raking a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and began pacing the floor. "This will change your career path forever."
"At least give me some insight into what you're thinking, Ferg."
"I'm 37. Realistically, my career can only last another 5 years give or take before the wear and tear catches up. You're only 18 with no major injuries so you can last another 10 years if you take care of your body. I doubt you spend all 10 on Smackdown. Hell, what if we both get drafted back to Raw during the next Shakeup? You'll just be on the roster because you'll have hindered yourself by giving away your rights to the title," he stated.
"Rules and stipulations can be changed. Just look at the Shakeup that lasted all of 2 weeks before the Wild Card Rule was implemented," she pointed out.
"That was done for ratings purposes and unless you plan on remaining heel for the rest of your career, I don't see them reversing your stipulation going over well with fans," he replied. "It's going to be a major shit storm."
Lily could read between the lines of what he was saying."So in other words I should stay on Raw?"
"I...I told you that this is your decision to make," he slumped down on the bed. "All I'm saying is there's going to be a lot of potential fallout behind this. Life is too short to run full force into something without thinking it through which means you're going to have a lot to ponder on in the coming days. I just want you to know that I love you regardless of what you decide."
"Okay, I've decided," Lily stared between Hunter and her father who flew out to be present for her decision. They both appeared to be holding their breath.
"What's it going to be?" Hunter blurted in a rushed reply.
"I'm dropping the title and going to Smackdown," she could see the disappointment on their faces before she finished her statement.
Shawn stood, exasperated as he shook his head. "Why would you do this? I know in your mind you two will never break up but what if you do? You're going to hate him and yourself because you made the conscious decision to sideline your own career for him."
"That's just a risk I'm willing to take," she shrugged. "I have to go find Alexa."
"What did you decide?" Finn stopped her on the way to the women's locker room.
"Team Blue," she replied.
He sighed. "I'm both happy and sad to hear that but if this is what you want, I'll have to accept it."
Lily stood in gorilla waiting for the current match to end when she heard Alexa hiss. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Alexa waved her off as she rubbed her temples. "It's just a headache."
Lily thought about Alexa's previous injuries and concussions. "Have you gotten checked out?"
"Not yet but I'll be okay," she replied.
"Alexa, you know that most of my comments are just storyline, right? You don't really have to go out there and kill yourself during this match," Lily said.
"Oh trust me, neither your opinion nor the smarks opinion is not worth my health," Alexa commented just as her theme played.
Lily got her offense in early, practically schooling the more experienced Alexa but one counter was all Alexa needed to get an opening on Lily. Submissions, strikes, aerial moves, incorporating some of her gymnastic move, Alexa brought it all, and for a long time there was barely anything Lily could do about it. Alexa choked Lily in the ropes until the ref made her break. Lily managed pieces of offense here and there, but Alexa was in full control of the match which is exactly how it was meant to be. The story here was of an overly cocky rookie being put in her place….that is, until Lily countered one of Alexa's moves, sending her face-first into the turnbuckle. Lily charged at Alexa and ended up sunset flipped.
The severity of the situation began to crash down on Lily as she laid there flat on the canvas, watching Alexa climb to the top rope. Sure, she loved Finn but was she really going to sacrifice something so major for the sake of being with him? He'd stressed numerous times that he loved her and nothing, including distance was going to change that. Everyone in on the situation from her dad to Hunter to Finn were right but she was too stubborn to realize it. The road ahead without Finn was going to be hard but she had to do what she had to do. Plus, Alexa didn't seem to be in any condition to have another title reign right now. She performed well tonight, probably her best but Lily feared that something was off.
Alexa bounced off the ropes for Twisted Bliss and in an unscripted turn of events, Lily got up in time to connect Sweet Chin Music. She covered her, whispering, "Stay down."
1...2...3. "The winner of this match and still Raw Women's Champion, Lily Michaels."
"I guess you're not just a lovesick teenager after all," Shawn said, meeting her in gorilla.
"You really surprised me out there and I respect you for coming to your senses to remain on Raw. However, I'm granting your wish and sending you over to Smackdown if that's what you want," Hunter said.
"Really?" Lily's brows rose but she wondered if this was a trick. "And I'm still eligible for the Raw title in the future?"
"Yes, you're eligible," he confirmed.
Squealing, Lily hugged both of them in one embrace. "You guys are awesome...until further notice."
Now it was time to find Finn. He was stretching as he prepared for the men's money in the bank match. "Hey, you."
Finn looked at her solemnly. "So you picked Raw. Honestly, I think you made the right choice."
"I know and I did it because I know that our love was strong enough to overcome even this…" pausing, she smiled. "However, in a strange turn of events, I'm going to Smackdown."
"What?" he exclaimed, his mouth gaping open in shock before his lips spread into a smile.
"I know right?" she giggled.
Finn scooped her up into a hug, lifting her feet from the ground, they kissed. "Wait, what about your title?"
She shrugged. "I don't know but I assume I'll be losing it soon so we better have championship sex while we still can."
They heard noise on the monitor as Kofi pinned Kevin Owens. Finn looked down at her. "I have to get to gorilla for my match so I'll see you later. Oh, and before you approached, I saw Alexa being helped into the trainer's room so you might want to go check on her."
Lily knocked on the trainer's office before opening it. Alexa was sitting on the exam table. "Are you okay?"
"Well, I threw up after I made it backstage and now I'm showing signs of a concussion so no…" Alexa revealed.
Lily felt guilt creep into her belly though she didn't recall any big bumps during the match. "I am so sorry."
"Relax," Alexa shook her head. "Apparently, I had it prior to this match. The headache, remember?"
"Oh, right," Lily nodded. "Welp, at least you have other talents to fall back on until you're ready to get back in the ring."
"Yeah, well until then, thank you for tonight. Now leave…"
Lily watched the monitors in horror as Finn took back bump after back bump. She can't recall ever fearing for his safety as much as this moment. Brock and Paul Heyman passed her on their way to gorilla. No way. Yep. Finn was currently the Intercontinental Champ so she had a feeling that he wasn't going to win but the small chance that he had just evaporated as soon as Lesnar's theme played.
"What the hell were you thinking taking those bumps?" Lily chastised Finn when he made it to the back. "You literally talked to me recently about taking care of my body and estimating how much longer yours will last only to turn around and get powerbombed from a ladder onto another one!"
"I'll be sure to call Leonie when we make it back to the hotel room to notify her that you've taken her spot as my ma," he snorted, humorously. "It looked bad and it hurt but I'm okay."
Tuesday afternoon
Finn watched Lily's face intently and knew she was close. Another indication was her tightening around him. His gaze dropped down to the red and white belt around her waist and then at the one around his. She began bucking against him but he held her hips, stopping her. He told her that life was too short to run full force into something…that meant orgasms as well. When they caught eyes, Lily blushed and looked away which made him chuckle. After all these months in which they've tried every position known to man, she was still bashful during the act. He could slow it down and try to make it last longer but he knew that his own orgasm was seconds away.
Finn rose to his knees, lifting her hips with him. He increased the speed of his thrusts, feeling the tight wetness wrapping itself around every inch of him. Her entire body shuttered, crying out. The impending, inescapable feeling overcame him as well and with one final thrust, he exploded.
"We should've filmed that especially since this may be our last time having championship sex for a while," Lily said after she caught her breath.
"Absolutely not! The way our luck runs we'll get hacked."
"Yeah, hacked or I'll accidentally upload it to Snapchat," she cringed.
Finn was happy with the decision she made. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if she forfeited her championship contention for his sake. If Shawn didn't ruin them, her eventual resentment and bitterness about her choice would have. It all worked out in the end though.
Later that night, Zelina slapped him in the middle of his match against Andrade. He stared her down before pointing at the ramp seconds before Lily's theme hit for a pop. She ran down to the ring and brawled with Zelina.
"Per the orders of Shane McMahon, this is now a tag match!" Lily said to the ref, taking off her Raw title and handing it to him to put away.
Finn was going to be facing Andrade for the title at the Saudi Arabia show so they went at it for a while in the ring until he laid Andrade out. Zelina tried to attack him again but Lily prevented it. She tried for her hurricanrana but Lily countered it into a powerbomb. With both of them down, Finn pointed at the top rope for her to get on across from him. They both came down on their opponents in sync for a duel Coup de Grace. 1...2...3. They celebrated with a kiss and a Too Sweet before exiting the ring. That's when Becky's theme hit. He was wondering how they'd get the title off of Lily so she could be done with Raw for good and apparently this was it.
"You may have pulled the heist of the century when you took advantage of my Wrestlemania match the night before to win the belt but I'm 100% now and we have unfinished business because you still owe me a rematch!" Becky said.
"Let's talk about taking advantage of something. You had over a month to take advantage of your rematch clause but instead, you've been over here rehashing your tired feud with Charlotte. I owe you nothing!"
"It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that you're a coward. I mean, Shawn was an arrogant, self-centered, egotistical, self-righteous, overbearing arse especially before he allegedly 'found God' and you're going down the same path which would be excusable... if you actually inherited his talent and charisma; you didn't."
"Oh, I see what this is. I bet you thought I'd get angry and act out emotionally and accept your challenge to defend my father's honor but I'm not. You went from Becky 2 Belts to Becky 1 Belt to Becky no Belts and now you're Becky chase a Belt but it won't be this one," Lily held her Raw title high.
Finn leaned over and whispered something in her ear as planned making sure that his voice was picked up by Lily's mic. "You have to be a fighting champion if you're going to hold it."
"What?! No! She lost to Charlotte Sunday who was cashed in on by Bayley. For the first time since last year she's out of the title picture and the WWE Universe should be thanking me for it because they won't have to endure that God awful accent."
"Excuse me?" Finn recoiled, trying to look offended.
"Not yours, babe," she replied. He whispered to her again. "Fine! If you want me to embarrass your fellow IrishMan again next week, I will."