This Is All In My Head
Darcy trudged down the hall to the main offices. She had been called into Steve Keirn's office and was both nervous and excited. The President of FCW didn't often call people into his office, most of the time people made meetings to see him, and Darcy couldn't think of a bad reason he would want to see her.
It was after her training session, her hair was still damp from her shower and she didn't look like she should be meeting with the President but business casual was not something had lying around in her suitcase. Keirn never seemed to mind when his talent walked into his office in their workout clothes, anyway.
After a light knock on the door she was let in. Dusty Rhodes, Tom Prichard and Norman Smiley all sat in seats around Keirn's desk, one seat left for Darcy.
"Miss Quinn, please have a seat." The FCW Diva did as she was told, dropping her bag just beside the door and sitting in between Norman and Dusty and looking straight at Keirn. "I called you in here because I wanted to talk to you about your debut."
"Debut?" Darcy asked, leaning forward in her seat.
"We think you're ready, so we'd like you to be part of future NXT tapings." Darcy almost fell out of her seat.
"You're serious? I'm going to get to wrestle? An actual match? In front of a crowd?" She asked quickly, turning to look at the others in the room. "Yeah, please!"
Dusty laughed at her enthusiasm before he began to speak about their plan for her. "We're thinking of starting you in a program with Audrey Marie because you're close outside the ring and have already proven that you can work together."
"Yeah, that'd be great. I'm so ready for this."
"We know," Keirn smiled at her warmly. She was the happiest he'd ever seen her and it was good to know that she was capable of positive emotions. "You'll have a meeting with Dusty and Canyon at the beginning of next week, Ashley will be there, and you'll spit ball some ideas."
"Sounds fantastic. Thank you so much," Darcy beamed, standing to her feet. She shook everyone's hands before picking her bag up off the floor and leaving his office.
There was a skip in her step as she walked down the hall, the looks from people she passed highlighted how strange her actions were.
"Who died?" Darcy didn't even roll her eyes as normal when she heard Moxley's voice. He dropped into step beside her.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're happy," he noted, looking down at her quizzically. "Figured someone must have died to make you smile so hard." She looked at him, the smile still on her face. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile before."
"I try not to make a habit of it," she responded disinterestedly.
"So, why you smiling now then?" She stopped walking and turned to face him, he did the same.
"Not that your hot shot WWE ass is going to care, but I'm going to be on NXT."
"I think I deserve a thank you," Moxley stated seriously, crossing his arms over his chest.
"For what?" Darcy asked, her mood quickly changing. "For being nothing but a pain in my ass every time we're together? Yeah, thanks a lot."
"For helping you with back bumps," he seemed unperturbed by her scowl. "Three days after I help you get over them you're being told you'll finally debut."
"Coincidence," Darcy spat at him, continuing her walk to the entrance.
"Where are you going now?" he dropped back into step with her. "You need a ride somewhere?"
"I'm going to walk to Matt's," she revealed.
"Walk? Because you want to or because you don't want to get into a car with me?" he asked causing her to roll her eyes.
"Combination of both, really." Darcy's answer was quick and instinctive, something she had to tap into where Moxley was concerned. "I want to walk."
"Fine," he said, pushing the door and holding it open for her. A smirk played on his lips, "But if you ever need a ride anywhere, I'm just a phone call away."
"Didn't think we were at that point in our friendship."
"For me to drive you places?"
"For me to have your phone number."
They reached Moxley's car, he stopped but Darcy continued walking, not even looking back over her shoulder.
He made no attempt to call out after her, he just drove past her. She started to smile again, the thought of finally debuting made her happier than she could ever remember being.
It was one step closer to her goal. She had only begun training as a wrestler when one of her boyfriend's friends told her she'd never make it. Being 5'2 and weighing 90 pounds soaking wet meant that a lot of people didn't believe she would ever be able to do it. Darcy always liked proving people wrong.
"All I'm saying is that Prichard can't hate me if he's letting me wrestle," Darcy said, nursing a bottle of cider in front of her, half a cigarette dangling from her fingers.
"He might not have had a say in it with DeMott being brought in and everything."
"So you heard that, too? It's not just Moxley reeling off bullshit?" She lifted the bottle to her mouth and watched Matt over it, watching confusion come over his face.
"Since when do you speak to Jon?" He questioned.
"I'm pretty sure he's stalking me," she answered. "I don't know, he just pops up every now and then and we talk."
"Right."
Darcy and Matt were sitting on his back decking and she had just told him that she was being called up. He expressed how proud he was of her that she deserved the opportunity. He'd known her for quite awhile – he had frequented the tattoo parlour she worked in when she was in high school – and was glad she was getting somewhere.
"What's for dinner?" Darcy looked at Matt, taking a drag of her cigarette. "Because I am starved."
"Then go home and have dinner," he told her pointedly. "You don't live with me anymore."
"But you're still my friend," she scowled. "I can't go back for a few hours because Colby said something about 'alone time' and that means they're fucking."
"Should have thought of that before you moved in with the happy couple." He laughed when she pouted at him, "What do you want to eat?"
"Something edible."
"No, sorry, I don't have anything like that," Matt said seriously, walking back into his house. Darcy stared at the door, alternating between her beer and her cigarette, waiting for Matt to come back outside.
When he did so he was holding up frozen pizza in one hand and a steak in the other, "Or we can do takeout."
"I vote takeout," Darcy responded, laughing at him. Of course he didn't have anything in the house.
It was close to midnight when Darcy finally returned to Colby's house. All of the lights were off and the door double bolted.
She let herself in, walking carefully and quietly as to not wake up her friends. She was unsurprised when she saw their shirts lying on the floor near their bedroom door. She kicked them with her boot, pushing them out of her way before she dropped onto the couch.
She was still over the moon after her meeting with Keirn. She'd been working her ass off for a year and a half, training 6 of 7 days a week so that she could make a name for herself in the ring. She was more than excited to know that she was finally going to get an actual match.
Darcy stood up again and went about the nightly routine of changing into her pyjamas and setting up her couch bed.
As usual she stared up at the ceiling for almost two hours before she finally went to sleep, only to be woken up an hour and a half later by a car coming up the street. She couldn't remember the last time she slept through the night. It had been years, probably before she was even a teenager. She'd been offered sleeping pills by her doctor but had rejected them knowing all too well that she'd become addicted and dependent. With both of her parents being addicted to too many drugs to name, the last thing Darcy wanted to do was head in the same direction. She was already verging on an alcoholic and her addiction to nicotine was more than likely going to send her to an early grave.
Darcy was awake long before Leighla stepped out of the bedroom just after 8. She looked at Leighla as she stepped onto the tiled kitchen floor, spooning Corn Flakes into her mouth.
"Have fun last night?" Darcy asked casually, watching as Leighla faltered slightly. "We're both adults here, no need to hide that you fuck your boyfriend."
"They told me you were blunt," Leighla laughed lightly. "But yes, I had a lot of fun last night. Thanks for, you know, coming home late."
"Thanks for not fucking when I'm here," Darcy said back with a small smile. "You can tell me to fuck off whenever. I'm not going to be offended if you don't want me around."
"It's fine," Leighla assured her. "I've hardly even noticed that you're here."
Darcy finished her cereal in silence.
Colby walked out of the bedroom shortly after, his hair all over the place and a goofy grin on his face. He walked up and stood directly behind Leighla as she poured milk into her bowl.
Darcy snorted at the blatant display of horniness – he had started to kiss her neck – causing Colby to jump out of his skin. The glare she received from her friend caused her to shrug her shoulders at him.
"What? Take notice of your surroundings, Lopez."
"You should shut your eyes, Quinn. This is too much for your baby eyes." He went back to kissing his girlfriend's neck, making a point to be much more aggressive about it. Leighla was swatting at him half-heartedly.
"My 22 year old 'baby eyes' have seen more of that than you could even begin to imagine," she retorted, moving to put her dishes into the dishwasher. "That is harmless."