Sorry for the huge delay in my chapter. After my pneumonia, I had a lot of classwork to catch up on. I had planned to do some hardcore writing over my spring break, but I broke my ribs. Subsequently, I haven't gotten to write until now. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Special thanks to UntilNeverDawns and her story Edge of Destruction. Let me know what you think! And also thanks to my followers!
"I don't think I can, though I don't really remember," came the pillow muffled response. "So, which one of us is he gonna kill?"
"Do we have to tell anyone? I'm thinking this is gonna screw over our friendship and professional relationship enough. I say we pretend it never happened."
"Yeah, sure. Sounds good to me. It'd be me that'd be dead anyway."
As odd as it was, we shook hands, and I stole the sheets to remain as covered as possible to pick up my clothes for me to dress in the bathroom. Humiliation colored the cheeks of my disheveled reflection. Joe was right; we shouldn't have celebrated. I continued mentally berating myself for the foolish mistake. I didn't even have feelings for Jon. He was already like a brother to me. I shivered. Oh, gross. By that way of thinking, I just committed incest, I thought to myself. Yuck.
Both of us clothed and an awkward elevator ride led us to his car. The drive to Joe's house, my new living situation, was filled with a heavy silence and several side glances. Neither of us wanted to address what probably happened last night. Who am I kidding? It definitely happened last night, though our memories were too fuzzy to confidently confirm it. Rationally, then, we should just forget whatever pieces of last night we could remember. And that was exactly our plan.
At that point, Jon dropped me off at my temporary home. I went inside and snuck quietly to the bathroom. A long, hot shower was required to scrub away the night before. When I got out of the shower, I noticed that everyone was awake and milling around doing various morning routine activities. I threw on undergarments, a tank top and UnderArmour capris to go to the Performance Center. A swift weaving of my dark hair into a braid left me looking ready for my first day as a wrestler for the WWE. Now all I had to do was feel the part rather than just looking the part. I bounded out to the kitchen to greet everyone – I'd met Galina and Jojo over the course of the previous week so I wasn't a complete stranger.
"Good morning," I said as I entered the room. "I just wanted to say thanks again for letting me stay with you while I'm trying to find my footing here." I ruffled Jojo's hair as I walked past her to lean against the table.
"We are happy to have you," Galina responded smiling. Joe's response was to raise one eyebrow to indicate the dark circles under my eyes that accompanied my being out all night.
"I insist I pay rent to accommodate. And I'll babysit any time you need."
"That's all right, Pierce," Joe said. "We don't need rent, but we may take you up on the babysitting offer. That'll be up to Jojo, though." The little girl smiled. "We should get heading to work out. Big day being your first official day of being a Diva. They might have an idea already in Creative to outline your character and story line for NXT. Creative started on it when the guys and I got your audition set up."
"That's so cool! Let's go," I said as I jumped away from the table. I bounded over to the door where I'd dropped off a bag and slipped on my shoes.
They told me they would launch my career as Pierce Fae, the dark angel of NXT as trained by the Shield. Creative and Carrano felt I was on the fast track to winning a belt. What truly excited me, though, was my counterpart in the story line: the Lone Wolf, Baron Corbin. The wrestler that continuously stole my focus would play both a rival and a love interest. Both of us had a background in fighting outside of the WWE making us a good pairing. Creative believed we may have brooding chemistry to promote an air of mystery and intensity throughout the roster. Our characters would be nearly identical: the loner type, the alpha force. Together, we worked closely in our trainings so as to mirror each other with similar wrestling styles during our matches. It was very suggestive of being counterparts. We would resemble a united front filled with tension, but something more was brewing underneath the script.
About a month after I was hired, Tom Pestock and I had become fairly close. I'll admit it: I was crushing…hard. At one event, I was done playing on the sidelines as far as behind the scenes was concerned. Tom, as Baron, had a match, and I was going to interrupt. He stood in the ring, patiently listening to his opponent's smack talk until the topic of my character came up. A fire I hadn't seen from him since we'd met seemed to light inside of him as he went to my defense. I took that as my cue to do a little rule breaking. I ran down and slid into the ring.
"Hold up, boys. Now, if you're going to talk about me, it's only fair if I get to put in my own two-cents." I landed a kick on Tom's opponent's stomach. "And I'm starting with you. Next time, save your insults to say to my face. And as for you?" I turned to Tom and slapped him before jumping slightly to plant a kiss on his lips. I then bounded out of the ring before he could even react. The moment I had left sight, the bell rang, his opponent stood up right into Tom's finisher, and the match was over. Because I had my own match a little later, I avoided just about everyone, including him, to maintain focus and fly under the radar.
An hour later and it was my turn to have my music light the way to the squared-circle. Tom sauntered down to the ring where I had been sizing up my own opponent, Paige. He said nothing as he climbed into the ring even as I sent him a questioning, accusatory look. He took one glance at Paige then walked over and placed a kiss of his own on me before leaving. It didn't have nearly as much flair as the scene I made, but it had just as much of an impact. Only the sound of the bell could draw my eyes from his exit. I threw Paige into my own finisher, which resembled that of Baron Corbin's coinciding with our character plots, and immediately followed him after the three count.
The moment I got to the backstage area, I was pressed tight against the wall. This was Tom Pestock confronting Pierce Gardner, not Baron Corbin pissed at Pierce Fae for the improv show. "What the hell was that earlier?" he demanded.
"Excuse you? What the hell was that just now? And what the hell is with this hostage situation? Back off," I fired back.
"Not until you explain."
"Not until I explain? Fine. I got sick of playing a game of mixed signals, so I made the first move. It wasn't storyline; it was real."
"It was real? Meaning?"
"Meaning I like you, you giant bull brain. I thought that was obvious. Now, it's your turn to explain yourself." I stared at him, waiting for a response as he contemplated his next move. I expected some verbal retort, but that is not what I got.
Tom took a step back. He moved his arms away from barricading me against the wall to gently cup my face in his sure hands. Then, he leaned down and lightly kissed my forehead, then my cheek, then my nose, and finally my lips. "Meaning you have flipped my world upside down, and I will challenge you to a match if you break up with me."
The moment was almost sickeningly sweet, then Saraya finally made her way toward us after our match. "It's about damn time, you two. I just wish I hadn't been pulled into the middle of that," she rubbed the back of her neck. "Watch out, Pestock, or the Shield is gonna do more than fight the Authority's battles."
The Brit walked away as I shook off the effects of the evening. When I got home to Joe's place that night, I trembled, disbelieving of the events of the day. Joe had noticed that I was a little out of it – or in it because I was stuck inside my brain – but didn't comment on my state of mind. I am dating Tom Pestock, I thought to myself. Wow…
I hope you are having a good time keeping up with Pierce. Seems there was a bit of a snag in that celebration. We'll see how the indiscretion with Jon affects her new relationship with Tom Pestock/Baron Corbin. Tell me what's on your mind: thoughts about Pierce, the story, the chapter, where do you think it's going, is there more to Pierce than what's been let on - especially when thinking about her rocky backstory? The show must go on!