Title: Return (2/?)
Rating: M
Content: swearing, sex, violence, angst of varying forms in upcoming chapters.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue
Summary: Ellie grew up around wrestlers, but left broken. Now she's back as a diva, but will things be as easy as she hopes, and will she be able to break away from the shadows of her past?
A/N: Somewhat re-written.
Ellie quickly settled into a routine of travelling and working out, and it soon felt like she had never been away. She and Nattie Neidhart swiftly became travel buddies and were often together, laughing and joking and generally lightening the mood wherever they went.
Ellie had always hated the competitiveness of the divas; when she'd been on the outside looking in she could see that they would get much more respect if they worked together, but that never happened because everyone thought someone else was there to get their spot. Nothing had really changed, but Ellie felt like she had an ally in Nattie because they'd both been around the business for so long, and they did as they wanted without trying to play the popularity contest.
It was a good job Ellie didn't want to be popular with the other divas because her friendships with Randy and John, and by default Evan, meant that jealousy and rumours were rife. She couldn't keep up with who she was supposed to be sleeping with from one day to the next. It was in equal measure frustrating, annoying and hilarious. As she shared yet another hideously exaggerated tale of a supposed conquest with Nattie over a beer, Ellie mused on why she was the target of such gossip when she was the person least likely out of anyone to sleep with a wrestler.
"Nattie, we've known these guys for years, they're more like brothers, it would just be weird, right? And considering how desperate some of the girls are to get into John's shorts, I don't get why the hell they feel they can criticise me for supposedly doing exactly what they want to do."
"I know, and we both know that the girls are never round for that long after they've got what they've wanted."
"Yeah, but it just annoys me you know, if I was flirting or attracted to Randy or John then fair enough, but they just don't do it for me that way, I'm sure they'll be devastated when I break that news to them." Ellie laughed, deciding to embarrass the hell out of Randy the next time she saw him.
"Yeah. But you gotta admit, some of the guys are pretty cute, you can understand why someone would be attracted to one of them," Nattie replied, a blush crossing her cheeks.
"What, Randy or John?" Nattie shook her head. "Oh my god you've got a crush on someone," Ellie laughed at the crimson on Nattie's cheeks intensified, "tell me who it is."
"No way."
"It's Tyson, right?" Ellie guessed.
"Hell no, he really is like my brother. And no it's not DH either, before you even ask."
"OK, so who else could it be..." there was an affectionate, teasing tone to Ellie's voice, "If it's not John or Randy, Evan?" Nattie shook her head, "but it is someone on Raw, right?" Nattie nodded, "Um, well it's not gonna be The Miz cos you have better taste," they both laughed, "oh I know," Ellie smiled to herself.
"I'm not gonna tell you," the Canadian warned.
"It's Morrison, isn't it?" When Nattie didn't say anything Ellie knew she was on to a winner. "Girl, why'd you never say anything?"
"He's with Mel, and a homewrecker is one thing I'm not," Nattie shrugged. "I mean, I know she's not the nicest person, but I'm not gonna be the one to blame whatever is gonna happen between them."
"Oh hun," Ellie felt bad for mentioning it now, she knew that when her friend fell, she fell deep.
"Eh it's ok," Nattie grinned, but the light didn't quite meet her eyes. "Who needs a man anyway?"
"Exactly," Ellie decided it was a good time to change the subject, "now how about I get us another drink, something pink and girly, right?"
"You know me so well."
"You coming out for a drink with us El?" Cena didn't knock on the locker room door, he just shouted from outside.
Ellie immediately tensed as more than a couple of dirty looks were thrown her way. Alicia Fox shook her head and turned away, and Eve rolled her eyes. Deciding that she had well and truly had enough of this behaviour, she shouted back "sure thing, can't wait to get away from the bitches in here anyway." She grabbed her bag and walked out, a smile on her face.
"You ok?" John asked once they were well out of earshot. He knew that kind of open hostility was not usual for Ellie.
"Just fed up of them," she sighed, "nothing's changed at all, they're a bunch of stuck up, jealous wannabes. Different faces, same old attitude."
"Don't worry about them, they're just jealous that you get to spend your time with me," he teased.
"Yeah I know, have you heard the latest, apparently you and Randy and me got caught making out in the showers yesterday," she tried to fake a laugh but John saw straight through it.
"It's really getting to you, isn't it?" When she nodded sadly he sighed, "want me to say something?"
"There's no point, you saying anything would just add fuel to the fire," Ellie shrugged, "I'll live. Anyway, fuck it, no one is going to dictate what I do and who I spend my time with."
"That's my girl, now I said we'd meet Ortz and Evan there, so come on, I'll buy you a drink to make up for it."
Ellie pulled John into a hug, "you have nothing to make up for, but thank you. I will take you up on that drink. God I need it after that match tonight."
"You did good tonight you know? You're definitely coming on," John only gave praise when he felt it was deserved, and as much as he wanted to cheer her up, he did feel that she had earned it.
"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you," Ellie's face brightened instantly, "I've got a few things I'm working on at the moment, but I feel like I'm going in the right direction."
"You sure are," John hailed a cab as soon as they got outside, managing to avoid the few fans still hanging round, "and that's enough of work, right?"
"Damn right." Cena was one person who was sure to brighten your day, no matter how bad things seemed, and Ellie was grateful for his unending cheerfulness.
When they arrived at the bar John spotted Randy and led Ellie over to the table they'd reserved in the VIP section.
"Thought you two had gotten lost or something," Randy teased, "we got started without you." He gestured to the empty bottles littering the table.
"I've got some catching up to do," Ellie giggled, waving to a waiter and ordering them more beers and a couple of vodka shots. When the drinks arrived, she grabbed both shots and announced, "I have definitely earned these today." Both shots went down in one.
"You did well El," Evan smiled, throwing a casual arm around her shoulder, "your match was really good."
"Well I was referring to starting to stand up from the combined witches from hell, but I'll take the compliment anyway, thanks," she grinned, taking one of the beers from the table.
"They still giving you shit?" Randy turned from his conversation with John and fixed Ellie with that intense Orton stare.
"Yeah but you are not gonna do or say anything so don't even try it, right?" Ellie stared back, determination an iron mask on her face. "I'll deal with it."
"But," Randy tried to argue but Ellie stopped him short.
"No. Definitely no. I will deal with it, so do not even try anything, ok?" She leaned back, looking all of a sudden worried, "it'll just make things worse."
John saw how uncomfortable Ellie had become and distracted the Viper. Randy could be quite direct and often acted before thinking and Cena appreciated Ellie's independence, even if, like Randy, he wished he could do something about the situation.
"Sorry," Evan offered the apology quietly, so he could be sure that Randy didn't hear, "I didn't realise things were still bad."
"It's ok, but can we not talk about it around Randy any more? God knows I love him but he'll just make things worse if he says anything."
"Deal," Evan smiled, "thank god John's here to keep him in line, eh?"
"Definitely," she decided the subject needed changing, and quickly, "so is it just us out tonight?"
"Nah, Jomo said he was gonna be out later, and I think Santino and a couple of others," Evan replied casually, although in reality he'd be surprised if half the roster wasn't there by midnight. They all had a well deserved day off the next day and generally when that happened they would all make the most of it.
"Cool," Ellie sat back, leaning against Evan as they casually chatted further, watching the dance floor fill up, greeting colleagues as they arrived and generally just enjoying themselves. Ellie was relieved that those divas who did show their faces steered well clear – none of them had the guts to start anything in front of Ellie's friends. She knew the rumour mill would be going full force tomorrow though, but for once she didn't care. She was with people who she was comfortable with and that was a feeling that she'd thought was long lost.
Natalya arrived at the club an hour or so later and immediately dragged Ellie up onto the dancefloor. Randy and John watched in amusement as she let go of all her stress and frustrations and gave it everything, the two girls quickly becoming the centre of attention.
"She seems happy," Randy commented, "when she can just be herself, like this."
John nodded, "I know she doesn't want us saying anything but we really need to put a stop to all this shit with the other girls. Ellie's here to stay and the sooner they realise that the better."
"She doesn't deserve the crap they're giving her, if they only knew..." Randy's voice trailed off as he remembered what had happened the last time she had been around the WWE.
"But that definitely isn't our place to say," John replied firmly, knowing that Ellie would never forgive them if they meddled.
"What do you think we should do Ev?" John turned to the younger man, nudging Randy and grinning as he watched the high flyer staring at Ellie with something akin to very obvious attraction on his face. "Ev. Earth to Evan,you there?"
"What?" Evan blushed and turned to his friends, "sorry, what were you saying?"
"What makes you think you're good enough for Ellie?" Randy asked harshly. It wasn't that he didn't trust Evan, in fact he couldn't think of anyone who would look after Ellie more, but he knew that she was fragile and being hurt would damage her beyond words.
"I'm not saying I am," Evan didn't take his eyes from the dance floor, "I just... we got on really well in Florida when we first met, we just seem to have clicked." Then, his face fell and he looked away, catching Randy's eye sadly, "nothing's gonna happen though."
"Why?" John asked, before Randy could get a word in. He knew Evan would be good for Ellie, but he also knew that Randy wanted to wrap her in cotton wool where relationships were concerned.
"She's not looking for a relationship," Evan shrugged, "and I'm not about to push her into something she's not comfortable with. I'm happy to be able to spend time with her, and if something happens, then it happens."
A broad grin crossed John's face and Randy nodded, satisfied with the answer. John leaned forward and whispered, "Don't worry about Ortz, he's over protective of her but his heart's in the right place."
The high flyer took a deep breath, "I know, I have no intention of doing anything to hurt her, John."
Evan's eyes again went back to the dancefloor, and he frowned in concern,as Maryse appeared to be trying to start something with Ellie. Ellie didn't look like she was taking any crap and squared up to the taller woman, getting in her face and shouting something that Evan couldn't quite catch. He stood up, motioning to John to keep an eye on what was going on. He walked with purpose to the dancefloor and quickly made his way to behind Ellie, motioning to Natalya to get out of there. He listened for a moment to Ellie's tirade of abuse, amused at some of the insults that were being thrown. Ellie could certainly hold her own.
When Maryse went to slap Ellie across the face, Evan intervened. He caught Maryse's wrist and held it firmly. "Don't even think about it doll, I suggest strongly that you leave now."
"Quelle surprise," Maryse spat, "rescuing your whore."
"You bitch!" Ellie went to lunge at Maryse so Evan let go of the blonde and held Ellie back, pulling her back towards their table quickly before Maryse could say anything else stupid. He sat Ellie down and, still holding her hands to try to stop her going back over for round two with the blonde, sat next to her. Randy, Natalya and John looked on in concern.
"What did she say?" Randy growled.
"The bitch called me a whore," Ellie spat, still wanting to go and finish the argument. Natalya quickly stood up and went to usher Maryse and her diva friends out of the room before Ellie kicked off again.
"Right, that's it I've had enough," John shook his head, "I'm not having this any more Ellie. You have to let us do something about this."
Ellie suddenly looked defeated, "I can handle it."
"By what, nearly getting into fights? She's playing you babe and you will come off worse. Let us handle it." John noted that Evan was still holding Ellie's hands but she had stopped struggling. He was worried though, not entirely sure that Ellie was strong enough to fight the tide for long enough to beat it.
"John's right," Randy added, "you know we just want you to be settled and happy with us. We can sort the girls out so they will leave you alone. You know we can do that."
"I just wanted to handle things on my own. Plus, it really will just make things worse for me, you don't understand quite how bad" she sighed, "I know you guys have got my back but I can't rely on you forever.."
"That's where you're wrong," Randy allowed a smile to cross his lips, "we'll always be around for you."
Ellie nodded, and everyone could see that she was upset. She leaned against Evan, allowing him to wrap his arms around her, which he did willingly.
"Do you wanna go?" He whispered softly in her ear.
"Yeah, I'll get a cab, you stay here with the guys," she sighed reluctantly, not wanting to lose the comfort she was feeling right now.
"No, I'll come with you, make sure you're ok," he touched her chin, forcing her to look at him, and offered one of his blinding smiles. She couldn't help but respond with a smile of her own.
"OK," she nodded. She sat up and looked at her best friends, "Evan's gonna go back to the hotel with me." She moved to sit next to Randy and pulled him close, and then moved on to John. Both men warned Evan without words to take care of her, and he nodded in response.
"Guys, take care of Nat for me?"
John nodded, "of course. Sleep well angel and we'll talk tomorrow."
Now that the adrenaline had worn off, Ellie felt quite drunk and very tired. She leaned on Evan as they walked to the exit and he put a supportive hand around her waist. In the back of the cab she rested her head on his shoulder and he savoured the feeling of having her in his arms, unsure that he would have the opportunity again. He wasn't sure where his feelings had come from, possibly from the first moment they'd met in FCW, but certainly from the moment they had started spending time together when Ellie had come to WWE. He wasn't sure when his mind had started to be filled by a feisty brunette who was fiercely independent and loyal to her friends, when he'd longed to know more about the demons that she tried to keep hidden. It had happened though, slowly and surely, and as much as he had tried to ignore the feelings because of how protective Randy and John were, he couldn't pretend he didn't feel more for Ellie than friendship.
Ellie's mind was a dangerous whirl of feelings, emotions and anger. She felt like she was drifting away, the only thing anchoring her to reality was the man holding her, and she held on to that feeling like a drowning woman.
Evan escorted Ellie back to her room and waited at the door patiently as she fumbled with the key card. At the third attempt she had success and pushed the door open and flicking the lights on. She turned to Evan and beckoned for him to follow, going straight to the minibar and grabbing a bottle of wine.
"Have a drink with me?"
Evan wasn't sure that it was a good idea but he didn't like the idea of Ellie drinking on her own so nodded and picked up a couple of glasses, allowing her to fill both to the brim. He sat on the sofa as she lay on the bed; neither feeling the need to fill the air with silent chatter; both lost in thoughts that swirled around the room in unspoken unity.
The silence was broken by the sound of Ellie's empty glass shattering against the wall, as it was thrown with some force. Evan was immediately by her side, sitting on the side of the bed. She looked at him sadly.
"I'm sorry," was the whisper that barely left her lips, "I always fuck things up."
"Hey, you haven't fucked anything up," Evan advised softly, taking one hand and squeezing it. "Apart from that glass but that's easily replaceable."
She laughed, "I ruined your night."
"Nah, I had a good time. I just wish Maryse hadn't ruined your night."
"How can you have had a good time, you've been stuck with me?"
"That sounds like a good time to me," he flashed that trademark grin again.
She forced a smile, "thank you for looking after me."
"Anytime. Wanna tell me what that glass had done to piss you off?" He rubbed circles over her hand with his thumb, trying to convey that he wouldn't judge.
"Just frustrated," she took a deep breath as if about to speak again, but then shook her head. "Don't worry." A frown crossed her features and then she yawned.
He smiled tenderly, "I should go, let you sleep."
"Night Evan," fully clothed, she lay on her side and her eyes drifted closed. Evan pulled the covers over her and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.
"Night angel, I'll see you tomorrow." He left the room, checking the door was securely locked behind him, and made his way to his own room, sending a quick text to Randy and to Natalya to let them know everything was ok.
Sleep would not come easily to Evan, as he acknowledged and analysed his feelings and what he knew. He was aware that he had barely scratched the surface of his relationship with Ellie but knew that he wanted to know all, to know all of her.