Seth growled and slammed his phone down in the hotel bar, downing his whiskey before turning back to Dean.
"I think you've had enough liquor for one night." Dean said.
"She blocked my fucking number!" Seth responded before he saw Aestrid walk over… and Aestrid pulled her right hand back and slapped him.
"Don't act so surprised about it, after the crap that you've pulled and thought you got away with! She tried to grip onto some hope that you were gonna accept her and turn back to who you were, but the guy she thought of as her friend, her brother, was gone from the moment the Shield split, if he were ever there at all!" Aestrid said angrily.
Across the hotel into the lobby, Dianne and Enzo heard the noise.
"Now he's getting what he deserves." Enzo replied, Dianne nodding in agreement.
"You think… she'll be okay, Enzo?" Dianne asked.
"With the help of those closest to her… she'll make it through all this." Enzo answered.
"Everything was fucking perfect and then I was turned into the backstabber because someone in creative had the idea to split The Shield apart!" Seth yelled.
"You drove Mandy so damn crazy that she went to the writers and told them the idea!" Dean shouted, Seth snapping his head towards Dean.
"Repeat that?!" Seth asked through gritted teeth.
"The Shield splitting on screen was Mandy's idea. She thought if we all had some time to stand on our own that we would be alright off screen." Dean explained, Seth grabbing a shot glass and slamming it onto the bar hard enough to break it.
"Well clearly that idea went tits-up from the start." Dianne muttered, making Enzo laugh a bit at her blunt wording.
"Damn, I swear Mandy's humor rubbed off on you." Enzo responded.
"It did… now let's go crash, it's getting late." Dianne said before they headed to the elevator.
Early into the next morning, Amanda opened her eyes and found herself curled up next to Finn with his face buried into the crook of her neck and his arms wrapped around her. She managed to stretch her legs and heard Finn talking incoherently in his sleep as he held onto her.
"You're a clingy one in the morning." Amanda muttered with a tired smile, Finn opening his eyes and lifting his head up to look at her and smiling.
"Can't resist a cuddle." Finn replied, resting his head down again afterwards.
"Especially after how last night was." Amanda responded, her lower lip still swollen and Finn getting up and grabbing some ice from the ice bucket. Once it was in a Ziploc bag, he pressed it to her mouth… Amanda jolted from the sudden shock of the cold, Finn reaching over and brushing his hand against her hair.
But before he could open his mouth, a knock at the door interrupted them. With Amanda holding the ice pack, Finn stood up and walked to the door before unlocking and opening it to let John in.
"You got to him…" Amanda said as she and John hugged, having noticed his bruised and scraped hands after they let go.
"He's done getting away with hurting you, Mandy. From this day on, every hit will be met with a return." John answered.
Amanda nodded and put the ice pack on her nose, John seeing the swollen lip.
"Still numb?" John asked.
"Mostly." Amanda responded.
At the arena for the SmackDown taping after getting ready for the day and eating, Amanda found herself waiting outside Hunter's office. She knocked on the door, Hunter opening it and Liv walking out of it with her eyes narrowed at Amanda before she stormed off.
"Couldn't find another opponent for her for NXT TakeOver Respect, right?" Amanda asked after Hunter guided her into the office and closed the door, the two sitting down.
"She lost it… as for tonight, try to protect yourself as best as you can." Hunter replied.
Amanda nodded… but Hunter could tell that her mind was partially elsewhere.
"Rough night after getting back to the hotel?" Hunter asked.
"I had the strangest dream… I didn't know where I was and there was this creature watching me. Despite how scary he looked, he… he wasn't trying to hurt me." Amanda replied.
"Looks are deceiving… maybe it was a dream with some meaning to your reality." Hunter responded after a moment.
"Maybe…" Amanda said, a knock sounding at the door.
"It's open." Hunter replied, the door opening and Seth walking in with a red mark on his face. "Liv slapped you?" He asked.
"She said that I cost her a match…" Seth muttered, Amanda glancing at her phone and seeing a text from Finn.
'Talk going okay?'
'Was until we were interrupted.' Amanda responded, Hunter helping her stand up.
"Go on, we'll talk later." Hunter said, Amanda starting to leave but Seth wouldn't move from the door. "Seth, let her leave. There's not gonna be any more fighting." He replied.
"Get out of my fucking way!" Amanda responded, Seth narrowing his eyes at her.
"No more fighting alright… in front of other eyes." Seth muttered to her threateningly before he almost mockingly politely stepped to one side to let her pass.
"Try and corner me again, I'll rip your dick off and take your balls with it!" Amanda growled, giving Seth a hard shove and leaving as Hunter was trying not to snicker.
"That's funny, huh?" Seth asked sarcastically.
"I think that means not to mess with her anymore." Hunter answered.
"Yeah… no more messing around alright." Seth responded quietly.
"I'm serious, that could've been fatal if her skull had gotten injured!" Hunter replied.
"She's still standing, that's the main thing." Seth responded, his attitude no different than before.
"Doesn't mean she's not hurting." Hunter said.
In the parking garage, Amanda stopped and leaned against the pillar before closing her eyes… she paid no attention to a car stopping near her until the horn blared.
"Stick that horn in your ear!" Amanda responded, Brock chuckling and smiling as he got out of the Equinox.
"Some things never change, especially you on a rough day." Brock replied as he approached her.
"Hey, Brock." Amanda said after opening her eyes, the two hugging for a few seconds.
"No apology from him, right?" Brock asked.
"Right on the money. It's driving me nuts, I thought if I blocked his number that he'd take the fucking hint." Amanda answered as they headed towards the stone steps and sat down. "You don't treat me like Seth does and you've known me since I was 10… I never wanted it to end up like this but he's treating me like a cheating lover." She said before he rested his right hand on her upper back.
"Whatever he thinks he's doing, he clearly isn't thinking about you being happy anymore. I wouldn't make it worth the trouble." Brock replied.
"He ain't worth it… and now I hope there'll be some civility." Amanda responded as they stood up and headed into the arena.
Amanda reached hers and Finn's locker room and pushed the door open, having to jump back when a fight between Finn and Seth spilled into the hallway.
"Stop it this fucking second!" Amanda shouted, pulling Finn off of Seth and checking on Finn. "You need to go to anger management! I try to reclaim a little normalcy and you go picking fistfights?!" She yelled at Seth, whose nose was bleeding.
"Like I said… no more fucking around." Seth responded while wiping the blood from his face.
"You're fucked up in the head. No wonder The Shield split a year and a half ago." Finn replied, carefully moving his right hand around.
"Maybe it was a good thing after all… would've certainly kicked up a storm had we all been like this while there was still a Shield to speak of." Seth responded.
"The hell is going on back here?!" Stephanie asked after reaching them.
"Seth charged in, swung at me and told me that I should let Mandy go! I swung back at him and told him it's none of his business who Mandy hangs around, especially after the injuries he caused last night!" Finn answered.
"As true as that is, swinging at him only drags you down to his level, hitting out simply because you're angry." Stephanie responded.
"Come on, follow me." Amanda said, managing to guide Finn away to diffuse the situation as Stephanie turned to Seth to tell him off… when Finn and Amanda were alone, she swiped a nearby ice pack and pressed it to his hand as he saw that the long day was catching up with her.
"Time for a rest soon, I should think." Finn said as he placed his other hand over hers.
"Soon as we get this taping over with, I'll happily rest." Amanda responded, leaning against him. "Unless you mind me curled up against you." She whispered as his left arm now wrapped around her back.
It wasn't long before her eyes closed… Finn set the ice pack aside, picked her up into his arms and took her into their locker room before lying her on the couch.
'If only she'd let herself fully relax… but that's not how she is at times.' Finn thought as he brushed Amanda's hair back and put his Balor Club jacket over her.