She wasn't looking forward to this round of traveling, but at least they were riding on the bus, and she didn't have to drive the whole way. Carmella was out of commision for a bit, and now that so many of her friends had moved up to the main roster, she didn't have as many options for traveling companions. She was the champion now and she'd found it was a lot harder to trust that everyone around her didn't have ulterior motives. She was a lot more hesitant to accept offers of friendship at face value, and that had made her life a lot lonelier.
Traveling on the bus had it's pros and cons too though. It typically took longer, you were stuck with everyone for the entire trip, and there was entirely too much time to think. She knew that even with all the things she had to help pass the time that she would inevitably end up spending half the trip thinking about why she was here and why everyone else was there.
She would remember how it had been the first time when she'd watched Paige and Emma leave. She'd remember how eventually she'd convinced herself that it had been for the best-how amazing it was that she got to be one of the four horsewomen which wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been around to meet and form a sort of friendship with Charlotte, but then she'd also remember how Paige, Charlotte, Becky and Sasha were all gone, that she was stuck here with only the bitter Emma and the one thing that made it worthwhile-the beautiful title-to keep her company.
She'd already been round and round with it in her head a million times, but still, it bothered her, especially when she was left with too much time to rehash it over and over again. Maybe someday she'd be able to look back on it more fondly. Maybe this time as champion would turn out to be a necessary step in her career and not the consolation prize it had felt like. Either way she was tired of thinking about it, and as she got herself situated she tried to keep her mind from going there.
"I don't understand why that ugly, horse-faced child ever got a title shot before you." The distinctive whiney voice came from the row behind her.
"Shh, she might hear you and go crying to Papa Hunter." Bayley wished she'd chosen a different seat, or that she could get up and move without bringing attention to herself. She did not need to listen to the two of them complaining about her for the entire trip. It wasn't even like Dana had all that much room to talk. Sure she had that whole blonde-haired, big-boobed, dumb as a box of rocks thing down, but where she got off calling her an ugly child was beyond her. Her overdone, one-too-many surgeries face resembled a duck more than a woman and most of the time when she talked she sounded like a whiney, petulant two year old.
"Whatever, you're going to take the title from her soon right. I don't know how much longer I can stand seeing her carrying it around like it means something. Just because that bitch Sasha couldn't beat her doesn't make her worthy of being a diva."
"Oh, don't worry, she has no idea. She wouldn't last five minutes on the main roster."
"No kidding, for one thing she's not nearly pretty enough to keep the boys attention. I heard she couldn't even keep that loser, wannabe ex of hers from straying."
"You heard right, and believe me he was no prize, I've met him."
"Oh that's right, she actually thought you were her friend."
Bayley was about two seconds from turning around and telling the two of them to mind their own business when she heard a voice interupt them,
"Excuse me ladies."
"Oh, hi Finn."
"Hey Finn, what can we do you?"
"I just need to get through, if you don't mind."
"Oh, sure."
"Of course, anything you need. You're welcome to sit with us if you want to."
"I appreciate the offer, but there's only two seats."
"One of us can move across the aisle no problem."
"Thank you, that's nice of you, but I've already got a seat." She was hoping that would be the end of it, and that the brief interuption would have distracted them enough that they moved onto a different subject. What she wasn't expecting was for Finn to sit down next to her. He even had to move her bag out of the way, which he quietly tucked under the seat like she'd been expecting him. They got quieter, but she could still hear them,
"What is he doing?"
"I don't know, maybe he feels sorry for her." Finn turned back a little, glancing over his shoulder, and they finally lowered their volume to where she couldn't hear them.
"Are they always like this?"
"Pretty much," she replied without even looking up at him. She had a book open in her lap, not that she'd read a word of it, but it was a good excuse to avoid looking at him. He'd been right the other day in the gym, he made her nervous. She could almost feel the demon and honestly he scared the bejeezus out of her, but it wasn't the demon that made her nervous. She'd been thinking about it a lot, and she'd figured it out-she was attracted to Finn.
It's not like she hadn't noticed in an abstract way how beautiful he was when he'd first joined the roster. The eyes, the body, the accent, he was the kind of man a lot of girls would go gaga over, but it wasn't even about that. Yeah he was physically beautiful, but what she'd felt when he got near her, it was that spark, that magical, inexplainable kind of attraction that went deeper then just how someone looked, and that wasn't good. She was not prepared to deal with that.
"Are you going to ignore me the whole trip?" he asked after a few minutes had passed.
"I didn't exactly invite you to sit with me," she replied, the words coming out harsher than she'd meant them to.
"Oh. Okay then. Well I guess I can move." She felt bad and reached out, lightly laying her hand on his forearm before he could go anywhere.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"How did you mean it then?"
"I didn't mean it all. I just don't know what to say to you."
"You can't talk to me like a normal person?"
"You're not exactly normal are you?" She said. She was afraid he would take it the wrong way, but the corner of his mouth tilted up in a sort of half smile and he said,
"No I'm not." He looked at her for a minute before he asked,
"What are you reading?" She tilted the cover up so he could see it, but decided to be honest and said,
"I wasn't actually reading it. It discourages people from bothering me."
"That's kind of anti-social for someone who every one says is so friendly."
"Yeah well holding a title changes things."
"True. Do you deal with that kind of thing from more than just those two?"
"Everday."
"Have you tried doing something about it?"
"Like what? Most of the time acknowledging it just makes it worse."
"Yeah, but that sucks, they shouldn't be allowed to talk about you like that."
"I didn't say I liked it, but there's not much I can do."
"Would it offend you if I said something?"
"You can say whatever you want to say, but I would prefer you not bring any more attention to me than is necessary."
"You don't like attention?"
"Not really, especially not that kind."
"I'm not going to cause a scene right now or anything, it's done and over with, but I can't make any promises that I won't say something in the future."
"Why bother?"
"What do you mean?"
"They aren't insulting you, and it won't change anything, so why even bother with it?"
"Because I don't like it, and, well, can I consider you a friend?"
"Huh?"
"Will you allow me to call you my friend?"
"Um, I guess, sure."
"Then there you have it, I'm not going to let someone insult my friend like that, and by the way, don't sound so enthusiastic about it or anything."
"Hey, I've never had anyone ask me that before."
"You haven't?"
"No, you're either someone's friend or you aren't, it's not normally something you ask permission for."
"Well, no, I guess not, but I'm still trying to figure out where I stand with you."
"Okay."
"So we're friends?"
"Yeah, I guess we are."
"Good," he said and he grinned at her. It was the kind of smile that reached his eyes and she could feel her breath catch and her chest tighten. This was trouble, big trouble, heartache waiting to happen. Maybe she should have said no, but she couldn't exactly take it back now.