What Are the Problems to Solve?

Leighla's weird behaviour continued for the next couple of weeks, Darcy noticed. On Guy's Night she didn't go with Darcy and Ashley to the bar, she barely asked Darcy how she was and her arguments with Colby became more frequent.

It was beginning to stress Darcy out because she knew she wasn't far from being asked to move out.

Ashley, upon Darcy voicing her worries, had offered her couch. Ashley had a boyfriend and Darcy was beginning to realise that was the problem. The few parts of conversations she had heard between the couple always involved a comment about wandering eyes and being uncomfortable.

"Promo day is upon us!" Colby exclaimed as he wandered into the kitchen.

"I hate promo day."

"You need to not hate it if you want to keep your job."

Darcy stared him right in the eye and spooned some Rice Krispies into her mouth. He rolled his eyes and went about fixing his own breakfast. Leighla emerged moments later, acting like her usual self. She greeted Darcy with a smile and her boyfriend with a kiss and Darcy had to raise an eyebrow. Colby noticed the look and shrugged – it made her realise that she wasn't the only one completely put off by Leighla's recent behaviour.

"Are you still okay to drive me in today?"

"Yeah, just give me 30 minutes and we can get going."

Darcy began her usual morning routine of washing her dishes, showering and getting changed. Her shower barely lasted 5 minutes – just enough time to soap up and rinse – and getting changed involved pulling on a pair of running shorts, a sports bra, a t-shirt and her sneakers. After throwing a clean set of clothes into her bag, Darcy still had to wait 15 minutes for Colby to be ready.

She sat on the front porch, a cigarette between her lips and her phone in her hands. She had been texting Harry all morning, reiterating everything she had already told him about her debut. The 12th of July was the set date, and it would be aired on the 1st of August, the seventh episode of NXT. He promised that he was going to try his hardest to get a couple of days off so he could be there for her but that they had to be realistic.

By the time Colby finally walked outside, Darcy was only halfway through her cigarette but she was entirely done with Harry. She shoved her phone into the side pocket of her bag, intending to not look at it again for the rest of the day, and walked silently towards the street. As she always did, Darcy walked two doors down, dropped the cigarette butt to the ground and stood on it. Why ruin the look of Colby and Leighla's house when she could ruin that of a perfectly good stranger?

Come noon, Darcy was back on her phone – though not to Harry.

After overhearing a particularly rough conversation Colby was having on the phone with Leighla, she decided she had to call for help with the situation. She was in desperate need of advice.

Still in full workout attire, Darcy disappeared out of the FCW building, taking her phone, cigarettes and lighter with her. No one saw her walked around to her favourite hiding spot.

"Darcy!"

"Austin!" Darcy smiled widely at the enthusiastic greeting she had received. Making her smile was only a feat manageable by a handful of people – Austin made her smile the biggest.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked her. Darcy didn't respond quickly as she had the phone on loud speaker, resting on the ledge while she lit her cigarette. "I can hear you, you know."

"And I can hear you chewing," she snapped back, referring to his addiction to chewing tobacco. "Thought you were going to give it up."

"I can say the same about you, missy."

Darcy laughed, "It's on my list. Just not a very high priority. But I called because I need to ask you something."

"Need some pointers? I'm sure Jon would be happy to help again," Austin said. Darcy huffed at the mention of Moxley and the back bump incident. "Okay, so not that. What is it?"

With a deep sigh, she responded, "I think I need to move out."

"Already?"

"Leighla and Colby are fighting about me. I need to move out or they'll break up and it'll be my fault."

"Why are they fighting about you?"

"Leighla keeps mentioning how Colby looks at me- Hi," she cut herself off when she noticed Moxley rounding the corner. He nodded at her without speaking, and then gestured for her to continue her conversation.

"Hi?"

"It's just Mox. Point is," she looked briefly to Moxley before continuing, "Apparently he looks at me in ways he shouldn't and she's getting pissed off about it – not that I know why because I seriously look like a 12 year old boy," Moxley and Austin scoffed at the same time, "and she shouldn't have to worry about that sort of thing. So, I need to find someone else's couch to sleep on."

"You have to stop saying you look like a 12 year old boy because you're making me feel real uncomfortable about some of the ways I think about you." Darcy rolled her eyes at him, though a soft blush simultaneously rose to her cheeks. "Ask Ashley."

"She has a boyfriend," Darcy groaned. "It'll be the same thing."

Austin sighed at her, "Move back in with Matt."

"Matt?" Darcy asked loudly in disbelief. "I lived with Matt for six months, I can't mooch off him anymore. He's already done so much for me that I don't want to burden him again."

"Then you're going to have to buy your own house."

"I'm trying."

Beside her, Moxley snorted at the whininess in her voice. Darcy gritted her teeth, being careful not to snap at him with Austin still on the other end of the call.

"Then keep at it, speak to Leighla and you'll be fine," Austin said in a soothing voice, making Darcy exhale heavily. "Are you okay to sort it all out?"

"If not, I'll call you later."

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Always," Darcy smiled as Austin ended the call. She placed her phone back onto the ledge and turned to face Moxley who had started to smoke beside her.

"You've got to cut out that 12 year old shit, it's making me feel creepy as fuck." Darcy raised an eyebrow at him but she was not surprised by his straightforward statement.

"That's what Austin said."

"He your boyfriend?"

Darcy shook her head vehemently, staring straight ahead of her, "No, no, just a friend. Adam Cole."

"Oh yeah, I know that kid," Moxley said in surprise. "My couch is free if you want it."

She looked at him abruptly, full of shock and uncertainty. He nodded his head, reaffirming his statement but Darcy again shook her head. He wasn't the only person to offer her his couch but, if she was being honest with herself, he was the only one she would consider saying yes to. She didn't have to put on a show for him; he didn't know her well enough to have pre-made conceptions about her. He would have to deal with her behaviour because she had never showed him any different.

The fact that it was Moxley, though, meant that she was going to reject the offer. Her nerves were not strong enough to put up with his presence for hours on end.

"I'll pass," she finally said, stamping the end of her cigarette into the ground.

Moxley shrugged, "if you change your mind, let me know."

Darcy wandered back inside, quickly throwing her phone into her bag before she made her way to the promo class. Her fellow female wrestlers were waiting with Dusty Rhodes in the centre of a ring.

Promos had always been something she struggled with. She wasn't charismatic enough to make something believable and every time she got close she found herself becoming so engrossed that she would swear or use generally inappropriate language.

"Darcy," she looked up at the sound of Dusty Rhodes calling her name, "why don't you start us off?"

"I don't... I can't cut promos," she reminded him through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to make an idiot of myself."

"Tell me why you should already be on NXT. Tell me why you should get called up the main roster sooner than anyone else here," Dusty prompted her, causing her to laugh.

She looked him dead in the eye and responded honestly, "I shouldn't get called up."

"Why are you there then?"

Darcy sighed and then sucked in a deep breath, standing with her shoulders back and chin up. Promo time it was.

"Because I've worked my ass off to get here," she stated firmly. "This hasn't been easy for me at all. Truth be told, I haven't wanted to do this my entire life but that hasn't stopped me dedicating every second of my days since I discovered this passion. All of the people who told me I couldn't do this can go fuck themselves because here I am. I'm going to debut on NXT and I'm going to the best fucking Diva-"

"We'll work on it," Dusty cut her off.

With a roll of her eyes and a strangled groan, Darcy dropped to her side and rolled underneath the ring's bottom rope. The question of where she was going prompted her to say that she was going home; that she'd had enough of promo class. The sound of her sneakers dragging along the linoleum floors echoed as she walked down the hall, grumbling to herself.

The walk home had, as always, been long and tiring – the sun was only getting hotter now that summer was actually upon them. When she opened the door to Colby and Leighla's, she wasn't entirely surprised to hear them arguing again. She purposely tried to be quiet, wanting to hear what they were saying.

"-Walks around in her underwear!"

"And?"

"And?" Leighla asked her boyfriend incredulously. "You're in a relationship; she can't just walk around in her underwear! She needs to go."

"She doesn't have anywhere else to go," Colby sighed. "Talk to her. Tell her what's bugging you."

"I didn't think she'd be here more than a month but I kept my mouth shut the entire time. You need to tell her to leave."

"She's my friend, La." Colby sounded tired but Darcy was very grateful that he was sticking up for her.

"I'm your girlfriend."

That was it though, Darcy reminded herself, she shouldn't be getting between two people. She was a guest in their home and boundaries had clearly been crossed.

"Um, Colby?" Darcy asked hesitantly, making her presence known. Leighla huffed at her and disappeared into the backyard.

"Yeah, Harlequin?"

"You have Mox's number, right?" The way she was speaking was unusual for Colby to hear. She sounded like a child who had just seen her parents fighting. Colby nodded. "I'm gonna give him a call. He said I can stay with him."

"You don't have to-"

"I do," Darcy interjected.

Saying no more, Colby pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her. She headed out the front door, sitting on the front steps like that morning, cigarette and all. Confusion settled over her momentarily when she was unable to find Moxley name until she realised that she was one of few people who still called him that – it was under 'Jon Good', surprisingly enough.

"Colby." Jon answered slightly out of breath.

"Uh, it's Darcy," she told him awkwardly. She was calling him because she had to, not because she wanted to. She hated asking for things.

"Oh, hey," he said back surprised. "What's up?"

"Um," she hesitated. "Is your couch still free?"

"Last time I checked, yeah, it's free. Did you change your mind?" Darcy could almost hear the smirk in his voice. She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "When do you need it?"

Darcy hesitated again, not wanting to ask him for any favours. She took a drag of her cigarette while she contemplated any other options that might present themselves.

"Tonight," she relented. Blowing smoke from her nose, she added, "You need to come get me."

"Do I now?" He chuckled at her relapse into normal behaviour.

Darcy snorted when Moxley pulled into Colby and Leighla's driveway.

"You would."

"I would what?" Mox asked, getting out of his car and walking towards her.

"Have a fucking Camaro," Darcy said as she looked the black car over.

"I have a fucking Camaro," he repeated with a proud smile. "Need help with your stuff?"

Darcy shook her head and wheeled her suitcase towards the car. Colby walked out with her bedding. Purposely refusing Mox's help, Darcy pushed her things into the trunk of the car and again rolled her eyes at the car.

"How old is this thing?" she asked him, pulling a face. "No way can it be safe."

"'87," Moxley told her, patting the roof. "She is very safe. Nothing to be worried about."

"It's older than I am-"

"Not hard," Mox said under his breath.

"-and I'd quite like to live."

Darcy said goodbye to Colby and thanked him profusely for letting her live on his couch. Leighla had left in her car not long after Darcy got off the phone, so she was unable to apologise for anything she had done during the month and a bit she had lived there.

Neither Darcy nor Moxley said anything as he drove them back to his house. There was nothing to say. The song through the speakers – most likely a cassette tape – lulled the two into a comfortable silence, Mox humming along every now and then.