One Year Ago;

RAW, May 19th, 2014

London, England

"Ohhhh," Ary hisses, watching a monitor as Colby Lopez eats a spear from Batista. "That didn't look right…"

Nikki shifts on the seat next to her, moves her gaze from her phone to the TV. "He's so stale, I don't know why Paul's let him back in."

And, well, that's a lie — they both know he's back in to promote his upcoming movie, just like The Rock does whenever he has a blockbuster coming out. Evolution had regrouped once the universe had decided it was dislike they felt for the returning superstar, and had then been thrust upon the new, future carriers of the WWE brand; The Shield.

"Hope he's okay…" the diva trails off, "he's holding those ribs a bit."

Nikki giggles next to her, plants a gentle elbow in her side. "You should go check up on him, have some more intense eye sex, yeah?"

Ary rolls her eyes. "Shut up, Nikki, we don't need the cameras picking that up."

"See, you don't even deny it anymore! You like him!"

The slap that Ary plants on Nikki's arm echoes around the small 'Female Talent' room.

But Nikki does have a point. If she's so worried, she should just go and check up on the poor guy, see whether he's okay. Ary hums and squeezes Nikki's shoulder in a goodbye as she moves off in the direction of Doc's set-up, dark eyes darting around the tunnels of the O2 Arena as she tries to navigate her way.

And she hears them before she sees them.

"Dude, that does not look good," Joe Anoa'i says. "You need to go see Peaches or something, get that checked out."

"No way, just because that oompa loompa can hit a spear doesn't mean that he's hurt me—"

"Dude. You're bruising."

"I bruise all the time—"

"Seriously, man," Jonathan Good interrupts, "Get that shit looked at."

When Ary rounds the corner, Colby is holding his top up and staring down at the bruise forming across his torso, his face contorting with pain as he prods the area.

"That doesn't look too good."

All faces snap around to where Ary has her hands stuffed into her jean jacket, smile sincere as she gazes across at Colby. She's still in her ring gear from a segment earlier in the night, but all Colby's really staring at are her eyes.

"Uh…" he can't find his words, and Ary fights off a smile. "I mean— it's not that bad."

"It looks horrible, Colby," Ary laughs, sharing a look with Joe. "Is he always this stubborn?"

She moves closer, hyper aware of exactly where Colby is in relation to her, but she doesn't give him the justification of looking.

Next to him, Joe smiles. "He doesn't usually have an out of shape wrestler try and spear tackle him to the ground."

Ary grimaces and then looks back at Colby, who's warm brown eyes are still wide. "I saw, it looked like a tough hit."

"Tough doesn't even begin to cover it, Ary," Jon sighs in annoyance. "This guy hasn't wrestled properly since 2010, he's out of shape and we're putting out lives in his hands every night."

"You watched my match?"

Colby's voice is small but Ary still hears him and nods, then looks back over her shoulder. People are milling past in preparation to pack up the building now that the show is done and the halls are becoming a little too crowded for Ary's liking.

"I better head off," she murmurs, catching the glint of sadness flash in Colby's eyes. "You should go get that checked out. I mean, I would, if I were you."

She doesn't give the superstar a chance to reply, turns and says her goodbyes to his two stablemates, is about to walk off when she takes a deep breath and spins on her heel again. Now or never, right?

So when she spins back around, Colby is still sitting on the plastic table and is staring at her expectantly. Joe and Jon share a peculiar glance with each other.

"Hey, Colby…" Ary pauses. "Do you wanna go out on a date with me sometime?"

Colby jumps off the table he's sitting on so fast that it's toppled over and on the ground before he can catch it, and his limbs flail as he tries to get it standing, blonde streak spilling over his shoulder. He snaps his head back around to see whether she'd seen anything. And she had.

Ary tries to smother her laughter with an inconspicuous hand. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Uh— yeah, yeah, I'd love— I mean, it would be great—"

"Dude…" Joe looks at his friend in pity and has a dorky looking grin on his face.

Looking back at her, Colby seems to gain some composure as he straightens. "Sure."

Ary smiles brightly at the nervous man and then nods her head, biting her lip as her eyes fall to the floor. "You choose the date, just let me know."

SmackDown, May 19th, 2015

Norfolk, Virginia

They're at a sushi restaurant and Colby's hands are completely torn apart from a gruelling cross fit session, Ary's mixture of antiseptic cream and Dermabond working wonders for his skin.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Ary asks slowly, moving a piece of sushi around on her plate. "How do I distract you from being distracting?"

He nudges her foot under the table shrugs, plops a piece into his mouth. "Dunno."

"You're helpful," Ary rolls her eyes and finally dunks the salmon piece into a bowl of soy sauce. He just smiles at her.

Colby turns around in his seat suddenly and Ary frowns, can't really see what he's doing. She shoves the piece of sushi into her mouth and chomps on it gently while Colby fumbles with whatever he's doing. And when he turns around, Ary almost chokes on her laughter.

He has the chopsticks in his mouth, hanging delicately between his upper lip and his canines. He wriggles his eyebrows, leans his head back into a double chin. "Sssssabertooth," he drawls, and wriggles his eyebrows again.

With a hand slapped over Ary's mouth, she struggles to regain her composure and says, "You are so, so lame."

"We both figured this out a loooong time ago, Ary Hale," her boyfriend says softly as he takes the chopsticks from his mouth. He glances around the empty catering room and then ducks forward to brush his lips against hers. "So, I know this hasn't been the easiest month for you…"

"Why do I sense a but coming?"

"Buuut," Colby drawls, grinning softly. "I was thinking that I want to give you something to make you a bit happier—"

Ary tilts her head and stares at Colby through narrowed eyes. "What have you done?"

"Stop being so suspicious, will ya?" He takes out a little envelope from his back pocket and raises his chocolate eyes to stare gently at his girlfriend. "Halestorm are in Chicago next week, and I may have gotten you some tickets—" And before Colby can even finish speaking, Ary is screaming in delight, launching herself at him in a hug.

"You're the bomb," she murmurs into his shoulder.

"I know."

—

Just because Ary and Dean have decided to work together doesn't mean that she goes out with him to start off the night. Instead, she stays back.

In fact, Ary Hale isn't on screen until the show hits the forty minute mark.

Her music hits half-way through the segment between Paige and Naomi. Within the woman's division, while Ary had been… pre-occupied, the divas had been scrabbling to take opportunities to one up each other and push themselves as the number one contenders.

The crowd cheers wildly for their champion and the women both on the ramp and in the ring stare at her like she's out of place.

"So, while I've been dealing with some… personal business, you lot have been running your mouths like I can't hear you." Ary walks down the ramp and sends a little wave to Tamina and Naomi as she passes them. "But here's the thing — I can hear you, loud and clear. In fact, Naomi, I beat you last Sunday at Payback. So swallow the words you're saying because they don't matter, you don't matter in this title picture anymore."

The champion enters the ring, sizes up Paige as she comes face to face with the Brit. "And Paige, I've missed you. No, really, I have, because who's going to get my ducks in line for me?" Ary laughs, tilts her head. "We used to be friends before you stabbed me in the back to try and win my championship back in November. But here's my issue — while I've been busy with that diva that calls himself Seth Rollins, I've been missing out on all the fun that our division offers!"

Paige steps forward, but Ary slaps the microphone out of her hands and the crowd 'ooohs' in response. "Listen to what I have to say, Paige. You and Naomi? If you can beat her, you can have a shot at my title at Elimination Chamber. That sound fair to you?"

And really, Paige doesn't look too put off by the idea, but by the way her eyes widen and she takes a step back, Ary knows that Naomi is not impressed. She ducks before Naomi can land an elbow in the back of her head and makes quick time to roll out of the ring, laughing as Paige makes her own move.

As quick as she's slipped out, Ary rolls back in and pushes Tamina away from the pale woman, following up with a swift kick to the stomach. She locks her arm around the back of Tamina's neck and runs for the turnbuckles, plants her foot on the middle and then the top and flips over the other divas body in her finishing Shiranui.

When she looks up, Paige has planted a Paige Turner on Naomi. Ary stands and taps the title around her waist, smiles at her next number one contender, and then exits the ring.

—

The next time she's on screen, she hasn't changed from her ripped skinny jeans, chunky boots, or her trademark red sleeveless hoodie, but she has changed tactics.

The match up is Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt, and while it doesn't happen until out of no where the three gremlins arise, Ary quickly dashes from her position in the closed off time keepers area.

Jamie Noble has crawled to the top rope to try and cause a distraction, but instead of pushing Dean into Bray Wyatt's waiting hands, he gets pushed to the apron at the hands of the Diva's Champion.

The WWE World Heavyweight Champion waltzes out from the back, his face contorted in an frustrated frown, and Ary sends a little wave of her fingers. The audience boos so loud that she lets out a little bit of a laugh, but then kicks Jamie in the stomach to keep him grounded for the time being.

But then Roman Reigns' music blares through the arena and her full-blown smile flashes across the tron. Grabbing a chair from under the ring, Ary walks around the side of the squared circle to stand in front of Joey Mercury and Seth Rollins.

When Reigns finally lands beside her, he throws an arm over her shoulder and the crowd goes nuts. Ary smirks at Seth as Dean picks up the win, one, two, three,

The two men standing before them dash forward.

Seth is after Roman, Joey running at Ary, and she brings the chair into his stomach before slamming it down onto his back, and then the steel weapon is on the floor as she drops to her knees, punching the security detail over and over again until there's a hand under her arm and Roman Reigns is yanking her away.

Ambrose's theme hits the speakers and she stumbles back in the arms of the large Samoan.

The tron picks up the smile on her face as well as the smug grin on Roman's, and Dean isn't far behind them as he yells "you ain't the only one with some backup!"

The night ends in a quick dark match, and then Ary Hale retreats to the back.

—

"You ready to head home?" Colby asks as he walks into the female talent locker room, the large area completely devoid of life apart from Ary.

She gives a slow nod, chucks a loose black top on over her sports bra and then shoves a hat onto her head. "Yeah. Gotta go do what I need to, right?"

He gathers her up in his arms, presses his lips against her head. "I know you're not looking forward to it—"

"No shit."

"—but you gotta think that maybe it's the right thing to do, yeah?"

Ary sighs against him. "Taking my father off of life support is not the right thing to do."

"Ary, nothing good is gonna come out of this, I know that, but you have the choice to either end your fathers suffering or tell him to keep fight it."

Her voice shrinks and when she speaks, it's soft as a mouse. "We're talking about my dad here, Colby."

Colby pulls away and Ary's bottom lip is jutted out, tears brimming in her eyes. "Oh, babe…" he sighs, pulling her into another bone crushing hug. "I know, sweetie, I know this will be the hardest thing you've ever done, but your dad will be in a better place, okay? He'll be happy again."

"I don't wanna say goodbye…" Ary cries softly into his shoulder. "I'm being so selfish, but he's all I got left."

"Ary Carolyn, don't you ever say that," Colby scolds her harshly, pushing her away by the shoulders but staring deep into her dark eyes. "I know that you haven't talked to your brother since he moved to Australia and that you don't talk to Suzanne at all, but you have so much more than just your father, alright? You've got Randy and you've got Paul, Nick, Jon, even Joe and Nikki — you have me. None of us are blood, but we're your family, okay?"

Ary's lips are quivering and tears are streaming down her face, and she's so, so tired of being sad, but she knows that Colby is right. Her boyfriend pushes a kiss against her head and then against her lips, and she back in his arms in another hug.

"I love you so much," breathes Ary, lips pressing against his neck.

And then Colby pushes Ary back again, lets go of everything but her hands, and drops to one knee.

Very suddenly, Ary stops breathing.

Colby is staring up at her openly and lovingly, his chocolate brown eyes glinting in the light, hair tied back in a low bun, he looks so unprepared for the moment, but he still looks so sincere.

"Ary Carolyn Hale, I have loved you from the moment I knocked over that table. I've loved you with everything that I am, I've given you my heart, and for some stupid reason, you've loved my nerdiness, my crossfit mentality, my dogs, my life, and me. I am so, so lucky to call myself your boyfriend, but I want to be more than that."

"Colby…" Ary doesn't know what to say, but the tears are streaming more so, now.

He just shakes his head and pushes on. "I was gonna wait until our one year, but I need to do this right now. I want a family with you. I want little mini-me's running around and pulling on Joe's hair, pocking Jon in the eye, grabbing Nikki's boobs—" Ary laughs at this, "— Ary, I want you to be the mother of my children, and it doesn't have to be this year or next year or the year after that, it can be once you're ready, because I will always love you."

Colby takes a deep breath and gives a little smile. "And the timing couldn't be more perfect. I want to get married before you turn off your father's life support, I want him to be there when we get married and see your happiness because that's all he's ever wanted, Ary… I know how much he means to you."

Ary drops to her knees so that her eyes are level with his, but she's beginning to smile and her tears are now because of joy. "But Col, you wanted a big ceremony and to make it special—"

"Anything that makes you happy will be special, Ary," he smiles gently. "I know we've talked about it, but I'm serious, Ar, I want to do this for you and your dad. We can do a Catholic marriage whenever you're ready and have a big ceremony, but I want your dad to be there and I want you to be happy."

And holy shit. Colby is a real person, he's her boyfriend, her fiancé, her everything, and how can she say no?

"Of course I'll marry you!"

She rocks forward into his grip and smashes her mouth against his, smiling and all teeth and they both giggle ecstatically as they hug.

"What have I ever done to deserve you, Colby Lopez?"

happy sad, happy sad, happy sad i say to myself as i bawl my eyes out. wow. okay. so, this chapter was hard for me to write for a number of reasons and I'm BEYOND sorry for the wait, but i think this update will make up for it. massive that you to T for giving me the idea to get this chapter rolling, took me just three days to finish off after like a week of doing NOTHING for it.

thank-you to Raquel the writer (you rock!), Bajor10 (possibly! it depends on what happens after they get married :) ), and T (I CRY EVERYTIME THEY DO SOMETHING CUTE, like im writing Colby as the perfect boyfriend/fiancé and i'm getting jealous, i want one :( im so glad you gave me the inspiration to write this one, so thank you!)

i was originally aiming for 10 chapters, but we'll see :) depends on how I feel after I write the next one. anyway, drop a comment, give me love, and i'll love you back!