After Fastlane, Charlotte had taken Sonya to a restaurant, saying that they were going to celebrate her successful title defence by eating as much as they possibly could.
Delighted to be treated by her Queen, and excited for a rare cheat meal, Sonya had been quick to accept.
The meal had been delicious, made all the more enjoyable by the company and the conversation. However, there had been something nagging away in the back of Sonya's mind the whole time. As yet, she had not told Charlotte about the fact that Mandy had figured out they were in a relationship. While she trusted Mandy not to go blabbing the news around the locker room, Sonya knew it was only right that she told Charlotte what had happened.
Picking the right moment for the conversation was the key. After returning to their hotel room, Sonya was getting a very chilled out vibe from Charlotte. Deciding it was the right moment, Sonya joined her in lying on the bed, and kissed her gently on the lips.
"What a great night," Charlotte commented tiredly, resting a hand affectionately on Sonya's stomach. "And I didn't even wrestle. I don't know why I'm so tired."
"A lot of travel, a lot of food," Sonya said with a smile.
"And a lot of sex," Charlotte added.
Sonya's smile grew even bigger. "That too." She paused for a second, then said, "Char, there's something I need to tell you."
"Sounds serious," Charlotte said, her eyes narrowing slightly in concern.
"I don't think it will be serious, but I do need to tell you about it," Sonya said carefully. "Remember the other day when we were in the car with Mandy?"
"Making the donut video, yeah," Charlotte said cautiously, now even more confused as to where this was going. "What about it?"
"Remember when we finished, you went back in the donut bar to get drinks for us?"
"Yeah," Charlotte said, really wanting her to get to the point now.
"That was when Mandy dropped a bomb on me. She was like, 'Sonya Deville! You're dating Charlotte for real!'"
"Oh shit," Charlotte gasped, quickly sitting up. "How did she figure it out?"
Sonya also sat up, so as to maintain eye contact. "By seeing us together. I asked her the same question, and she said she's my best friend, she can always tell what I'm thinking."
"Oh my god," Charlotte cried. "This is bad. I haven't spoken to..."
"Char, Queen, it's okay," Sonya said hurriedly, taking Charlotte's hands and speaking in a reassuring tone. "Mandy won't tell anyone, I swear. I told her how important it was to us for nothing to be said, and she swore to me she would keep her lips sealed. I know you don't know her well, but I do. I trust her implicitly, and I need you to trust me in that judgement. I didn't tell you about this because I'm afraid she will gossip about us, I told you because you should know. It would have been wrong of me to keep it from you, and I'd never do that to you."
Charlotte hated the fact that someone knew about the relationship before she had told her family about it. But Sonya clearly meant what she was saying, having no doubts about Mandy's trustworthiness. In turn, Charlotte trusted Sonya just as strongly. If she said Mandy would keep her mouth shut, Charlotte believed it.
There was another problem, however. If it had only taken a few minutes in a car for Mandy to figure out they were in a real relationship, how long would it be before someone less tight-lipped made the same realisation? Not long, had to be the answer. And that was not good.
"Alright, I trust you. Of course I do," Charlotte said. "You say Mandy's word is good, I believe you. But she put two and two together so easily, someone else will too. That's what's troubling me."
Sonya sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah, I thought that too."
It dawned on Charlotte that she was going to have to come out to her family in the near future. It was something she had known she would have to do, but she had been trying to think of it as something for the future, not something that was imminent. "I'd better start thinking about telling my dad," she said faintly. "He needs to be the one I open up to first."
"I think that's a good idea," Sonya said supportively. "If you want me to come with you, I will. My advice is that we should go together."
"Oh, absolutely. I wouldn't want to do it without you there. I want him to see what we mean to each other. Besides, the moral support will be much-needed."
"I'm there for you," Sonya promised. "I'm always there for you. I love you."
Charlotte kissed her, feeling herself tingling inside. "I know you're always here, and I know you love me. But I want you to show me."
"Yes, my Queen," Sonya said obediently.
Smackdown Live – February 26th 2019
When the show returned from commercial after the second match of the night, Sonya's music hit. It was greeted with the usual boos.
"We're on the road to Wrestlemania, where Sonya Deville is set to meet Ember Moon for the Smackdown Women's Championship," Tom Phillips said as she walked into the arena dressed in jeans and her 'Unleash the Deville Inside' tee, with sunglasses perched on her forehead as usual.
By Sonya's side was Charlotte, dressed in a set of dark red ring attire. She looked regal as ever, but also annoyed. Sonya looked even angrier, despite the championship that remained around her waist.
"Sonya successfully defended her title at Fastlane against Carmella," Byron Saxton said. "But that doesn't tell the full story."
"No it doesn't," Corey Graves said, displeased by what he was about to recall. "During that match, Mandy Rose attacked Deville, from behind I might add, and attempted to cost her the Smackdown Women's Championship. I, for one, want to know why."
"I don't think you're the only one," Phillips said.
The two women had quickly reached the ring, and Sonya had fetched herself a microphone. As soon as her music faded, she got right down to business.
"Sunday night, I made Carmella tap out, exactly like I said I would. But during the match, Mandy Rose decided to attack me, almost costing me the match and the Smackdown Women's Championship. Mandy," she continued in an aggressive tone, "I would have torn you limb from limb backstage Sunday, you little backstabber, but you must have fled the arena before I got back there. You want to get involved in matches, Mandy? Why don't you get involved in one tonight, against me?"
It wasn't Mandy's music that played in response to the challenge. A scream filled the arena, signalling the arrival of the general manager.
"Sonya, let me remind you of something," Paige said as she walked onto the stage. "You don't make the matches around here, that's my job. So, no, you won't be facing Mandy Rose tonight. In fact, you won't be having a match at all. The one who will in action is you, Charlotte. You're competing in the Women's European Championship tournament, against Naomi. Since you're already out here, who don't we go ahead and start that match right now?"
Sonya looked extremely angry as Naomi's music hit, but there was nothing she could do to change the decision that had been made.
Discarding her microphone over the top rope in the direction of the timekeeper's area, Sonya made a show of giving Charlotte a kiss for luck while Naomi started to make her entrance.
"Love you," Sonya said under her breath, so that only Charlotte could possibly hear her over the music.
"Love you too," Charlotte whispered back, sounding thrilled to get away with saying it out in the arena.
Sonya climbed out of the ring and walked around to the side where she would be facing the hard camera.
From there, she watched the match unfold. Although she went through her kayfabe requirements of looking happy when Charlotte was winning, and not doing so when she wasn't, Sonya was working on autopilot. Inside, she was mesmerised by watching her Queen work. So beautiful, so athletic, yet also so hard-hitting when she needed to be. In Sonya's mind, there was no better female wrestler in the world. She felt incredibly blessed to be with Charlotte, and proud of her for how amazing she was in everything she did.
Luckily, Sonya's preoccupation didn't cause her to miss her crucial spot towards the end of the match.
Naomi was lining Charlotte up, plotting to finish her off. Sonya hopped up on the apron and shouted at Naomi, distracting her.
The fans were cheering, despite the interference. Remonstrating with Naomi, Sonya knew Mandy would be running down the entrance ramp. Any second now her legs would be...
Mandy whipped Sonya's legs out from under her, causing her to fall off the ring apron and smash her face on it.
With the fans cheering her on, Mandy didn't let up. As Sonya got up, Mandy punched her in the face, sending her staggering around the ring.
Deville walked around the ring steps, holding her hands over face in pain.
Following her, Mandy grabbed Sonya from behind, spun her around and attempted to whip her into the steel steps. However, Deville reversed and sent Rose crashing hard into the steel with a loud crash. The top half of the steps flew off because of the impact.
Striking her familiar pose, Sonya roared like a wild animal, the veins sticking out in her neck.
The Deville within didn't get a chance to do its work, though. Ember Moon's theme song began to play, drawing another cheer from the fans.
The number one contender for Sonya's title came jogging down the ramp, going right after her future opponent.
Deville was ready when Moon reached her, and the two women began brawling, both throwing right hands at each other at the same time.
Sonya soon found herself on the back foot, staggering away up the ramp with Ember following and continuing to hit her. They would fight to the back, allowing the audience's attention to return to the match going on in ring, just in time to see Charlotte take Naomi's head off with a Big Boot.
Victory at hand, Charlotte picked up Naomi's leg and set about locking in a Figure Four. When she dropped to the mat, locking the hold in, Naomi started screaming and thrashing around.
Flair intended to give no quarter as she sought to advance towards European Championship gold. Leaning back, she put her hands on the mat and lifted her back, bridging into the Figure Eight. At that point, the result was academic.
After struggling for another ten seconds, Naomi tapped out on the side of Charlotte's leg.
As she got released the hold and got up, celebration looked to be the last thing on Charlotte's mind. She looked furious, having just seen Sonya being attacked by two different people.
"Give me a microphone!" Charlotte yelled at the ring announcer, who hurriedly complied.
Taking in a couple of heavy breaths after the fast-paced match, Charlotte walked to stand over Naomi before delivering her simple message. "By the time Wrestlemania is over, Sonya Deville and Charlotte Flair will both be champions."
Dropping the mic, Charlotte left the ring as her music began playing again.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review last time.
Next time, it's the big moment. Charlotte will be going to see her father, with some news that's sure to surprise him. How do you think Ric will react? Leave your prediction in a review!