So, this has been proven a lot harder to write than I originally anticipated. I like the idea behind it, now if I could just get momentum!
That being said, her admission sparked this whole thing. I've currently been focused on a Seth/AJ story, called Yours to Hold. It's pretty rad. I've also got one OC/Reigns story that I've completed, and I've hit a dead end with the part 2 of that one. Soooo, here's a new one for basically no reason. :)
"Fuck!" Paige groaned as she pulled off her shiny, black Doc Martens in the women's locker room. She tossed each boot lamely in her bag, knowing fully well they hadn't even landed near the opening.
She'd completely botched the end of her match against Summer Rae, her mind completely in a different universe tonight.
In fact, her mind had been in a strange realm for a little bit over a week now, ever since he sent her a few texts. She still sometimes thought that she shouldn't have revealed her troubling past to the whole viewership and, essentially, the WWE Universe. At the time, she truly believed that she was being strong, giving voice to something that so many women had experienced, but so few had the means of support to fall back on when it happened. The only reason it'd even been brought to light was because of her dear friend, Rosa, whom she was trying to throw a baby shower for. Yet, all Paige could think about was: Why couldn't that have been me?
True, if she had a child at home, she wouldn't be able to do half of what she was doing now. Especially being so young. She wasn't sure she'd even be able to wrestle, and she supposed that in itself was something to be grateful for. But still...her past had been haunting her for a long time now, she'd been eluding relationships because of the whole situation...
Her problems stemming from her messy past, the constant limelight, the camera crew filming so much, the downplay of her role as one of the main participants in the "Diva's Revolution"...everything really felt like it was all beginning to fall down. If it wasn't for Foxy and Rosa, she'd have lost her damn mind by now; but both women had their own problems to deal with, and now, Paige was left all alone. She could go to Nattie, but again, she had enough to deal with...
Her place within the WWE right now was pretty shaky, too. How many more heart-to-hearts with Road Dogg could she really bullshit her way through regarding her "immature behavior?" How many times would she be jobbing to women who had no business in a ring at all? How many fines could she accumulate for dropping the f-word during a Q&A? She could pretty much see any sort of championship reign in her rear-view mirror at this point. Shoot, she even tried to gain attention from the uppers on the writing staff by knocking boots with the likes of former champion, Alberto Del Rio. When that last plan fell through, she cut him loose quickly, knowing that she would end up hurting him eventually, anyways.
Her head was all kinds of fuzzy lately.
The door creaked slightly, and the cameraman followed the tiny little interviewer, Jojo, as they neared Paige. Hoping her angry glare was enough to scare them back into the hallway, she shot them a look from hell. Unfortunately, Jojo still asked for a "word" with her, being her sweet, naive self.
What Paige wouldn't give to be like that once again!
"Fine, shoot. But I haven't got all day," Paige responded, not bothering to mask her frustration.
"Well, Paige, we just saw you lose yet again, this time, to Summer Rae. A year ago, we saw you at the top of the mountain. Nowadays, you can't seem to get a leg back up. Do you have any plans for progress at this time?"
Paige snickered, knowing full-well that Jojo was being fed lines by her least favorite writer, the one she told personally to "fuck off and burn in hell" when he'd tried to stick her in a love-triangle story with fucking Dolph Ziggler. As much as she wanted to call him out on his bullshit, she thought for a moment how to best respond to this attack.
"Well, Jojo...I guess it's true I've fallen a few steps. But now, all I see is up...and at the very top is that evil witch, Charlotte...who, without me, would still be losing to Bayley on NXT. So once I get back into my own rhythm, I'm prepared to push her off the top, and send her straight to the bottom, where she belongs."
Jojo seemed satisfied with that answer, so Paige excused herself, ready to get a quick shower in before heading out for the night. She kind of hoped that soon, she'd be able to take more than a three-day break from this chaos. She needed badly to unwind, get a plan going to get her out of this rut. Disappear off the map for awhile. In fact, she could ask Stephanie to be written off TV with an injury or something...surely, it'd be granted. Paige had proven to be more of a headache than what she was worth right now...
Yeah, that sounded good. A break from the constant run-around, a break from cameras, from filming, from botching matches...clearing her mind sounded lovely.
Until then, well, she could really use a beer.
Five years prior.
She didn't actually think he was looking at her...like that.
She was only 19, after all. And he...he was one of the greatest stars of the modern era. A WWE future legend, a shoo-in candidate for the hall of fame once he finally hung up his boots. And even though she had a sturdy wrestling background of her own, she never in a million years expected to catch this guy's eye. He, too, had wrestling in his genes.
Good-looking, smart, cunning...he was every woman's dream. Paige would admit, sure, she'd shown off in the ring the couple times he'd glanced her way. She was just beginning to find her in-ring persona, clad in black shorts, a studded belt, and a black studded top to match. She wasn't fully confident in her appearance-but she knew she had the moves down. And that in itself was enough for her to make this guy look twice.
At first, he'd shown a genuine interest in NXT diva, Charlotte Flair. Of course he did; she was tall, ridiculously beautiful, and blonde. Paige should've seen it coming, she supposed. Charlotte was approachable, though very naive at the time, and everyone knew that this asshole was going to walk all over her. But just as quickly as that rumor started, it faded away. Charlotte had approached him, and he'd brushed her off, citing her very famous daddy as the sole reason that he couldn't and wouldn't get tangled up with her.
Charlotte, of course, was beside herself: It was unusual that someone she actively was pursuing would turn her down. Paige kept it quiet, but she saw it as a personal victory. Of course she liked Charlotte, how could you not? But it was nice to know that there was someone that wouldn't hop into her hotel bed simply because of who she was, and who she was related to.
But shortly after, he began to aim his attention towards her, and she was completely flattered, to say the least...
She knew the details of their little deal. No strings attached; she kept quiet what was going on between them. She was to never tell a soul about the late-night hotel visits. She was to pretend that he didn't exist at all.
But the nights they spent together became frequent, and the more she was with him, the more she found she actually enjoyed his company. The more she thought to herself that, if he'd just give her a chance, she might be able to give him more. Paige had brought up the possibility of a relationship only once, however, and he laughed, telling her she was "cute." And that fucking hurt.
Which was why, when Paige heard that he began dating someone, her heart was shattered. She'd overheard the prick telling Hunter about how he felt that, for the first time in a long time, he was happy. Why couldn't she be the one to change his mind about love? Had she not done everything he'd asked? Did she not get on her knees and suck his dick anytime he asked her too? Didn't she pant his name like a sex-kitten as he pushed himself between her legs?
Why wasn't she good enough for him?
But that's what she'd signed up for, right? She was the dumbass who caught feelings, even though she was well aware of how it would end. She began to distance herself from him, opting to ignore his booty-call texts. Choosing to spend her evenings with Becky Lynch, sharing a room, than by herself. She purposely began to go to the training room in the evening, because she knew he was often one of the first people lifting weights in the morning. Yeah, she'd taken extreme measures to cut him completely out of her life.
Until one day, she realized, she had to talk to him. And when she'd finally texted him, after successfully avoiding him for a week, he had been pretty salty. Paige didn't let on that she knew he was involved with someone, although somehow, he probably knew she'd figured it out.
She recalled telling him that she'd missed a period, and he was furious. She had assured him that it was most likely the crash diet that she'd been on, changing the patterns of mother nature. Between the new diet and the ridiculous exercise plan that her NXT trainers had began her on, it made sense. But then, she began the many trips to the bathroom, vomiting up anything and everything that touched her lips.
It wasn't until she was pale-even for her-and weak to the point where she could not properly do her in-ring training that one of the other FCW/NXT divas pointed out that maybe she ought to take a pregnancy test...just to be sure.
Summer Rae had brought three of them for Paige that godawful day, all different brands just to "be sure." She sat outside the stalls of the training center as Paige peed on all three of the sticks, each one of them confirming the news that yes, she was indeed pregnant.
"This is the fucking worst," Paige had said, her eyes full of tears. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Her career hadn't even really begun yet, and here she was, pregnant with a baby that she wasn't ready for with a guy that didn't want to be anything besides fuck buddies. Should she tell him? She hadn't even thought that through yet; knowing fully well how awkward of a conversation this was going to be...
"Oh, honey," Summer consoled her, holding her toned, tanned arms out to give her a enduring, sisterly hug. Summer was older than her by a few years, already in the talks of potential babies with her husband. And even though Paige and Summer didn't necessarily see eye to eye on basically anything, she still showed her loyalty as a friend by being here, helping her get through this...it was almost like having an older sister to fall back on, someone Paige could count on to both keep her secret and help her through all the issues that went with it.
"I don't know what I'm going to do," Paige sobbed, letting her tears fall freely, knowing fully well she was getting her salty tears all over her friend's gray hoodie.
"What can you do?" Summer replied, tucking Paige's then-auburn colored hair behind her ear. Yes, she recalled, prior to being the raven-haired anti-diva that gave no fucks what anyone thought, she was Brittani Knight, the sweet girl next door that solely relied on her ability and nothing more to carry her through the world of professional wrestling.
"I can...I don't know," she cried loudly, for a long time, all the while Summer Rae held her close, not asking any more questions. And while Paige knew that the whole locker room suspected who else was to be blamed for creating this...tiny human being that was inside of her, Summer never said or brought up a single word. Even if it was common knowledge, the person in question had the amount of leverage with both WWE and NXT that if he denied having ever even looked at Paige in an unprofessional manner, the world would've believed him over her.
It took everything in her to finally ask him to meet her at her hotel room one night when she'd opted to be alone, no roommate necessary.
"We need to talk," she'd whispered over the phone. It had been two in the morning. "About...that thing."
She heard him sigh an annoyed sigh, agreeing to swing by quickly. "But I'm not going to stay," he warned her. As if that was any different than any other time.
"Don't. I don't care," Paige found herself irritated now, knowing full-well how he was going to play his cards.
She didn't even bother to make herself look cute. She looked messy and horrible, just as horrible as she'd been feeling. Pregnancy was just not cutting it with her. She wore no makeup, the baggiest, hugest sweats she could find, and her long hair sat in a knot on the top of her head, like a ratchet crown.
Whatever.
When he finally showed up, he didn't bother to acknowledge her appearance. He sat on one of the two lame-ass wooden chairs the hotel provided, his arms crossed and looking at the floor.
"How've you been?" she asked quietly, breaking the ice as she hugged her knees to her chest.
"Cut the shit," he said curtly. "It's true, isn't it?"
"What do you-"
"I've been watching you in the ring. Shit, even the trainers are beginning to notice that you look like shit. You're moving slow, you're being overly cautious, and you've been wearing big-ass t-shirts. Not the normal sexy little tank tops that caught my eye to begin with."
Paige had to bite her lip to keep from verbally assaulting him for being an inconsiderate jerk.
"I took three tests. To be sure."
"How could this happen?" he growled, slamming his big, angry fist against the corner table. The pamphlet of coupons that the hotel provided fell to the floor, all the paper slowly gliding in the air until hitting the dark gray carpeting.
"You know how it happens," she replied. "We'd been very careful, though, so I'm surprised..."
"You've got to be kidding me. FUCK!" he roared, standing up, his face turning bright red. He was pacing now, and running his hands over his head. He looked way too much like his in-ring character, and Paige was beginning to grow fearful of what he might do next.
"Sit down...please," she pleaded, slightly cowering on the bed she sat on.
"How can I sit down? You've ruined my life!"
Paige's jaw dropped. "How could you say that? Like I want this? Like this was planned?"
"Who knows? There's crazy bitches everywhere that sleep with guys like me in hopes to get pregnant. You know, money and that."
Paige was now bright-red with frenzy. "Believe me, pal, that's the furthest thing from my mind. The only thing I was seeing in my future is the Divas belt and stacks of money in my spare bedroom. So you can promptly fuck right off."
He seemed to be calming a little, the color returning to his face. "I'm sorry. I really am. But we...we can fix this. It'll be good, for both of us."
"What do you mean?"
"I know a guy. He can get rid of this...problem. Our lives will go back to normal, and we never have to even look at each other again."
"Or...we can try to be together, and see where it goes?" she replied hopefully, knowing she sounded stupid and babyish.
"See, I knew you were aiming for this! I knew you were trying to get knocked up-to rope me in!"
"No, no, it's not like that!" she exclaimed. "I just...I really don't want to get an abortion. Please, don't suggest that."
"Why? That...thing...will ruin both of us. You haven't even begun your career yet, and I'm not ready to end mine!"
By then, Paige's face was streaming with tears. "I don't care...I don't want to do this, but I've got to."
"No, you don't. You're being dumb and childish. What if I pay for it? Would that help?"
"Seriously?" she looked up at him, her voice sounding weak. "How could you do that to your own child?"
"If it is mine at all," he murmured, causing Paige to jump up off her bed, now as close to the man's face as she could get. "Say that again," she threatened. "Because if you do, I'll shove my knee so far up your groin, your dick will come out of your nose. I dare you-say that again."
He shook his head, defeated.
"That's what I thought. You and I both know the only person I've been sleeping with is you. Too bad for me."
He sighed once more. "It's late, and I think we're both crabby and tired. Let's sleep on it, and talk again soon."
"Fine," Paige snapped, looking forward to being alone again. This went worse than she'd originally anticipated, but not far from what she figured.
"In the meantime, P...will you please think about an abortion?"
She scoffed, pushing him-literally-out the door before slamming it shut, careless about which NXT divas and superstars were sleeping in the nearby rooms.
A/N: Uh..so who is this mystery man? What'dya all think? Should I keep going?
