"Pride and Prejudice"
An Edge/Ashley fanfic
Thanks to csimiamigirl73, Londrick-Forever, Christal-R, Farra Sti, KxH, xAttitudex and wwe whore for reviewing last chapter, you rock!!
Hope you like the new one as well :)
R&R and enjoy it!
Chapter 32
"One Innocent Mistake"
Cherry hesitated, quickly glancing at Michelle for moral support, then cleared her throat and took a few steps forward.
"…I owe you an apology." She finally spoke in a low voice.
"I think you owe me more than that." The punk firmly snapped back, her hands resting on her hips.
The smaller blonde quickly nodded. "You're right… I'm sorry, I--"
"You what? Your boys told you to attack me and so you did. Who cares of the consequences, right?" She scoffed.
"No, no, that's not like that…!" She objected, slightly panicking "I mean… I thought it was to advantage them… and surely I was wrong nevertheless!" She immediately added "But it wasn't them, it just…" She trailed off, blushing as she failed to calmly explain the truth.
"It just what?" Ashley insisted.
"What she's trying to say," Michelle interjected after a quick look from one blonde to the other "is that you have every right to be upset… but it's not really like it seems. Yes, she was wrong and she knows that," here Cherry eagerly nodded "but someway she got convinced to act that way… and not by Deuce & Domino… by someone who used worse ways, playing with her insecurities."
The genuine and natural confusion was all shown on the dirty diva's face at this point.
"But what does that mean? Who convinced Cherry to attack me if Paul & Brian's title match against them wasn't the cause? 'Chelle, what's going on here?!"
"Babe, let her explain." Adam's soft voice immediately calmed her as he advanced and placed his arm around her waist.
Encouraged by the softened expression on Ashley's face, Cherry finally found the courage to speak up again.
"I know I was really wrong to attack you… and I'm so sorry… whatever reason I might have. I've been told that this way my brother and boyfriend would be happy with me and I would find new friends." She sighed, a bitter smile on her face "I know it was terribly stupid of me to believe so… but I guess I just wanted to fit in and so…"
She finally lifted up her gaze as Michelle reassuringly placed a hand on her shoulder.
Ashley looked at the shy diva, remembering how rough her own start on Raw had once been, and finding herself somehow unable to doubt her words.
There was still a piece that didn't fit the puzzle, though.
"But who wanted you to attack me then?" She asked.
A short yet full of tension silence filled the room, while Adam and Michelle exchanged a knowing look.
"It was… it's Kelly Kelly."
As the words sunk in, a bitter smile curved Ashley's lips.
"Sure, Kelly Kelly." She commented with an 'I-should-have-seen-that-coming' tone. It all perfectly made sense now.
Not knowing the reason behind her reaction, obviously, Cherry mistook it for a sarcastic remark against her, so she piped up again.
"I'm truly sorry for what I did, Ashley" she earnestly said "I had no reasons to do what I did whatsoever… of course I had no idea of what then happened… but coming out and attacking you was wrong anyway. So… I hope you can believe and forgive me." She added in a barely audible whisper.
"I accept your apologies and I believe you just tell the truth," she honestly replied, it was really hard not to trust the shy blonde's words… she seemed so genuine and yet so lonely… "but I need some time to think about it. Not to be a bitch, it's just… too much right now." She apologetically said.
But actually it seemed like that was enough to satisfy the smaller diva as she quickly shook her head.
"Thank you." She gratefully said looking at the punk diva and timidly smiling.
"I guess it's time for us to go now." Michelle jumped in with a sympathetic look in Ashley's direction "don't think too much about Kelly, alright? She's not worth it."
The dirty blonde just playfully rolled her eyes, doubting that was even a possible option, and quickly touched her friend's hand. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah," the all-American diva confirmed with a smile, following outside Cherry, who seemed to have lost her tongue again as she just unsurely waved.
As soon as the door got closed, she turned to the silent Adam at her side, a sarcastic smile on her face.
"She's after you, of course!"
"Ash don't--"
But she had already moved away from his touch, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.
"How could I be so stupid not to see it?! She was there with you on that freaking date the night we finally got together! How could I have forgotten?!" She shook her head and heavily collapsed on the couch.
He was right besides her in no time.
"And who cares if she's after me? I'm sure as hell not interested." He pointed out "Besides, you have to face that almost every girl likes me, you know."
She playfully rolled her eyes at his teasing smirk and hit his arm. "That's not the point, ladies man."
"And what is it then?"
"Well that she's enough determined in getting what she wants to manipulate someone so nice like Cherry, using her loneliness at her own advantage, to get me attacked!" She exclaimed.
"And I'm sure you'll get your revenge, at the right time." He added worried that she could rush into something bigger than her. "She's a bitch, no doubt about it. And I agree that of course you're upset about that… but you're better than her."
"I hate when you're right." She rolled her eyes, prompting him to smirk "If now she wants to play innocent, alright, but I'll show her who she's messing with."
"Well I'd say an ass beating is the least she deserves." He chuckled, kissing her temple "Besides, she's already the loser in this, and she's going to face it everyday. There's no match."
"And how's that?" She skeptically asked.
"I chose you, didn't I?" He said matter-of-factly, a smile on his face. "There's nothing she can try that will change that. You're the one I want to be with, not her."
"Yeah," she faintly smiled, then sighed resting her head on the couch.
"You don't sound too convinced though."
"Nah, I was just wondering why everything has to be so complicated… so messed up!"
"I know, but… you know what? Who cares! Screw the others, screw Matt, screw Kelly, we're the only ones that matter. Nothing's gonna break us apart. I promise." And with that, to prove his point, he leaned in and gently lifted her chin up with his finger, softly kissing her.
She finally started to relax, a full hearted smile on her face when they pulled apart.
"I like the way you think." She giggled.
"Really?" He smirked "Good, cause I have some other opinions to share…"
And with that he got closer again, only this time to get interrupted –for the 2nd time that night- by a knock on the door.
"Okay, this is not getting funny." He groaned in protest while she stood up and marched to open the door.
"Hey there punk princess."
"Almost concussions do you good… what a match you fought!"
A bright smile and loud giggles were in order as she literally jumped first in Brian's and then in Paul's arms, hugging her best friends tightly.
Adam just stood up and uncomfortably shifted position, as he and the hooliganz exchanged awkward nods.
"Hi,"
"Hey…"
She just smiled at the effort and turned to face the duo. "What are you doing here?"
"Well," Paul pretended to think about it for a few seconds "maybe we came to pick you up for our match?"
"Shit! I need to change!" She exclaimed, rushing to search for something in her duffel bag "Black and white then." She added studying their outfits.
Brian nodded, "So you officially come out of the closet with your boyfriend since only a day and already forget us." He pouted.
"Yeah," his partner added shooting an evil glare at Adam "nice work, man."
The Rated R superstar's body tensed up, ready for whatever was coming next, when the dark haired man just laughed. "Just kidding, of course."
Ashley playfully rolled her eyes standing up from where she was knelt down next to her bag, "He's the dork of the duo baby, don't worry." She giggled.
Adam just chuckled.
"So…" she unsurely began taking his hand in hers and walking forward "this isn't what I originally planned but… this is Adam, not Edge, and these two goofs here are my best friends." She did the presentations with a hopeful smile glancing back and forth. "So you three are basically the men of my life."
"How is it going, man?" Brian was the first one to speak, offering his hand that Adam immediately shook.
"Good, thanks. Great match you have tonight, huh?"
"You can say it!" Paul agreed, accepting the champ's hand "We'll do our best to take back our titles."
"Good luck on that. Even though you don't need it, you were champs for nearly a year after all."
"Well not everyone needs to cheat to win." Brian playfully remarked.
"Well we can't all be babyfaces." Adam grinned back
"Good point." Paul laughed.
The enough-friendly exchange seemed to satisfy the diva as she literally beamed. "Okay, I'll go to get change now, be right back!"
The trio just nodded as, after a few awkward moments, they moved to the couch to follow the action in the ring. And once there, it wasn't hard to find something in common to talk about.
In meanwhile, in the bathroom, Ashley quickly stripped off of her in-ring clothes and put on a black leather corset and a white mini skirt with black fingerless gloves and her usual combat boots.
Then she brushed her hair and checked her make up, adding only another light layer of transparent lip gloss.
So she rushed outside… surprised to find the three of them getting along quite well as they agreed on bashing The Miz who was currently standing in the ring.
A surprised yet pleased smile soon followed as she advanced with her hands on her hips and cleared her throat.
"Excuse me partners, shouldn't we get going to win some championships instead of getting lazy with my man?"
Equal grins were shown on the duo's faces as they immediately jumped up, leaving her to playful roll her eyes.
"…We should hang out together one of these times… all of us."
Unexpectedly, it was Adam's voice that reached them, already on the door.
"Sure, why not."
"Sounds cool."
Were the equally unexpected replies, after only two seconds of surprise. And the dirty diva couldn't help but look back at her now-proudly-smirking boyfriend with a pleasantly surprised grin. And she blew him a kiss before her boys dragged her outside.
"You know, I've never thought I'd say that… but he's not that bad." Paul piped up.
"Yeah, you could have done worse." Brian echoed with a roll of eyes, prompting her to happily giggle as she linked arms with them, just as usual.
x—x—x—x—x
Adam let out a satisfied sigh as soon as the door got closed.
He had finally tried, for her sake, to open up to the others and not be the usual jerk they all thought he was. And judging from her genuine happy smile, it had actually worked.
So, happy with himself, the Rated R superstar started to get ready for his match.
Once he got stripped to his black and red tights, he taped his wrists, grabbed the belt, and decided it was time for a quick coffee break after all.
So he got out and marched to nearer vending machine, distractedly playing with the coins in his hand.
And just when he inserted one and pressed his choice's button, he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind him.
He didn't even need to turn, not that he intended to, cause the other person greeted him first.
"Do you have anything to offer a girl?" Kelly Kelly said in a teasing tone, walking past him and 'casually' posing with a hand on the vending machine, facing him in her tight and short mini dress.
He rolled his eyes at the obvious –and unwanted- flirting. "Yeah, what about a ride back to high school, kid?"
Her smile immediately dropped and he hardly refrained to laugh in her face.
"What do you want Kelly?"
"Oh I thought that was clear enough." She smiled.
"And I thought my answer was clear as well." He coldly replied, not even looking at her.
"But I'm a good girl," she giggled "so I'm giving you a second chance to make things right." She said getting in between him and the vending machine.
"Listen, I have no time for this, alright?" He huffed "I'm not interested, so just let me take my coff--"
But he hadn't a chance to finish his sentence cause just while he was moving past her to grab his coffee, she surprised him with her lips crushing hard on his own.
He, obviously, rejected her backwards as soon as he could, death glaring at the blonde.
"Good luck on your match, champ." She just flirtingly smiled, and after touching his arm, walked away.
"Go to hell." He muttered to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.
Evidently Kelly didn't know the meaning of the word 'No' or better she wasn't down to accept it as a possible answer.
And the little scene, as quick as it was, had been actually long enough to be caught on the cell phone's of another superstar, who casually crossed the hallway in that exact moment.
"God bless technology."
x—x—x—x—x
"I know you could do it!!" Ashley literally bounced past her boys, who half an hour and many sweats later, were holding the two tag team belts again.
"Thanks to the dirty diva who held Domino's foot before they double teamed us behind the ref's back." Brian grinned, hugging her once again.
"Hey, that's my job, I'm not just an eye candy, you know?" She joked tossing her hair back very Maryse-like and prompting her to laugh as Paul high-fived her.
"I wonder why Cherry didn't show up with her boys as usual." The dark haired man added.
"Maybe that's some time of punishment after what she did the other night." Brian shrugged "Anyway, better for us! Not that our valet wouldn't have knocked her out in case, of course."
She just giggled, mocking a bow.
"So you guys ready for a celebration?" Paul asked with a huge grin on his face.
"Hell yeah!" The other hooligan promptly replied as they both turned to Ashley.
"…I, actually, I think I'll pass it tonight." She apologetically said, an innocent smile curving upwards her lips.
"Ow, she wants to ditch us for the boyfriend." Paul teased.
"Yeah, what a shame." Brian echoed shaking his head.
"Guys, I just come from an almost-concussion… I've spent last night in a hospital and had an intense match against Jillian. Don't you think I'm done for today?" She playfully rolled her eyes.
"…Fine, you have a point." The blonde eventually agreed, rolling his eyes.
"We'll keep some champagne for you." Paul added, making her laugh.
"Thanks, you're always the best." She giggled hugging them "I'll see you tomorrow then, champs."
"Yeah… and behave with your man, you're coming from a tough 24 hours after all!" Paul called out while she was already on her way, grinning at her while she stuck her tongue out at him.
She smiled at herself, tucking a lock of hair behind her hair, while she passed the men's locker room. And her mind wondered back to what her tag team partner had just pointed out as well… it was surely strange that Cherry wasn't out there with her boys. It had never happened before and she had seen her earlier, so she was sure nothing was wrong with the shy blonde…
What was going on then?
But she didn't have to trouble herself much with the thought, since the sounds of conceited words caught her attention… and turning to a corridor on her left, she saw the rival tag team… in their whole formation now.
Or better, the two men were shouting at the diva, who was whispering something she couldn't hear from where she stood, walking backwards against the wall with every word she said.
The sight was surely curious, and so the dirty diva didn't walk on… a bad feeling in her guts.
"Why didn't you show up?! You know that we lost because of you?!"
"If you were there as you should have, we would be still champs now! You had to distract the referee or knock that bitch out before she could even try to stop us!!" Domino echoed his partner's words, glaring down at his sister.
"I… I just didn't want to…" And the rest of the sentence was left in the space, not loud enough to reach the punk diva.
But Deuce's voice did though.
"What the hell does that mean? You didn't want to attack her again? What's sort of bullshit is this?!"
"Like we asked for you to attack her in the first place! Who cares about her!"
"That's the second mistake that you do in only two days, Cherry." Her boyfriend's tone was threatening, something that surely Ashley didn't like.
"Yeah, we warned you." Domino echoed, and he didn't move a muscle as his best friend actually raised his arm… hand clenched into a fist… ready to hit the diva who desperately protected her face with her small hands.
"What the fuck is going on here?!" The punk shouted, rushing at Cherry's side and standing in between her and the two men.
"That's not of your business." Domino hissed.
But the dirty diva begged to differ as she defiantly lifted her face up to look in their eyes. "Hit her and I'll get both of you fired on the spot."
"You wouldn't."
"Dare me."
"Why should you?!" Deuce spat, "She's nothing to you, why do you even care?!"
"I don't let anyone treat my friends like this," she firmly replied, feeling Cherry's hand clenching around her own "not even her brother or boyfriend."
"Ex boyfriend." Deuce muttered, before he walked away… not without a glare in the two blonde's direction.
"We're done. Mark my words, Cherry. You're nothing to us." The other added, pointing a finger at his sister and then he followed his friend, leaving the two girls alone.
"You okay?" Ashley eagerly asked.
Cherry just nodded at first, wiping away a tear with the back of her hand. "Thank you."
"Is that true? That you didn't show up cause you didn't want to go against me?" She unsurely asked.
"I can be shy and stupid," she faintly smiled "but I prefer not to repeat the same mistake twice."
Ashley instinctively hugged the blonde, "You're not stupid."
"So… we… are we…"
"Friends." The punk firmly nodded, smiling down at her.
"Thank you so much…!" The shy one gratefully said, finally with a bright smile on her lips.
And as they parted ways with a last good hearted look, the punk princess couldn't refrain from smiling all over again.
Yes, despite everything going on she had made a decision. And she was going to reveal it to her boyfriend right now. Or better, as soon as he came back from his own match.
x—x—x—x—x
"Here comes my champ!" Ashley exclaimed with a huge grin when almost 40 minutes later the Rated R superstar made his return with the belt still secured on his shoulder.
"Hey there," he smiled returning her hug just outside his locker room.
"Ew, you're all wet with sweat." She playfully scrunch her nose as she pulled back, laughing.
"Excuse me miss, I just beaten the crap out of Batista, you know? Not exactly the easiest opponent." He pointed out with a playful smile.
"Right. Well hurry up and take a shower, so we can leave then."
"Oh, I figured you were going to celebrate with Paul and Brian?"
"Nope," she shook her head "or better they asked me… but they're not the only champs I'm seeing lately." She smirked "And that's your first title defense since we're together… so I thought we could celebrate on our own."
"Oooh, I like the idea." He grinned "You seem in a fair better mood than before."
"Totally, baby. And you know why?"
"Tell me." He said leaning with his back against the closed door.
"Because I've decided to follow your advice. Screw Kelly. I don't want to think about her right now. Actually I don't even want to speak about her. So I officially declare that her name is taboo from now on, alright? Or at least for tonight." She corrected herself with a happy smile "Everything's fine with us, with my boys, with Cherry… I just made up with her by the way, so screw all the negative thoughts."
"…That's awesome babe." He chuckled. He was actually going to tell her what had happened earlier, but after what she just said, how could him? She had gone through enough shit in the last couple of days, so he couldn't help but agree with her own words. Nothing was going to bother them. Not tonight, cause they deserved it. After all… what happened was already forgotten by now, right?
Well, he was probably doing an innocent mistake by not telling her… but who could blame him at this point?
"Glad you think so," she giggled before a faint blush colored her cheeks as she distractedly played with his hands.
"What?" He asked a little confused by the unexpected reaction.
She shrugged and gave him her best content smile that he loved before leaning in and kissing him… a kiss that despite the sweat, and them standing in the middle of a corridor, was soon becoming more and more heated…
So when they eventually pulled apart, gasping for air, and he was still holding her… she stood on her tiptoes to reach his ear where she whispered "I think Michelle's rooming with Cherry tonight, you could stay overnight."
And the mischievous smirk that followed was surely an unmistakable confirmation of his best hopes… so he couldn't help but smirk back, quickly kissing her on the lips again, before rushing inside to get changed.
She happily giggled at herself, leaning against the door, excited for what was going to happen very soon.
From the other corner of the hallway, another blonde was glaring at her, after having witnessed from the long distance the sweet and lovely scene.
Apparently her kiss hadn't done much after all.
But her spirits were soon going to be raised once again as a dark haired superstar approached her, handing her a cell phone.
"Thought you might be interested in this."
And she could just look confused at Matt Hardy, whose smirk promised her that probably something was going to change soon.
And for the better. For her, of course.
It was all about her.
Always.
