Ravyn rips the door to the locker room open, relieved to see that AJ hasn't arrived yet. She paces the floor of the small rooms few times, just repeating her interaction with Corey. Was everything he said true? Did she run from emotion like he claimed? She sinks onto the cold wooden bench in the center of the room. Burying her face in her hands, she does her best to hold back a frustrated scream. Against her better judgement she searches for the video of the most recent leak.
The moment the video begins to play she's taken back to that day. Seth had come back to NXT for an autograph signing and a live event appearance. She and Corey had been together almost a year. The three of them caught up after the show with some beers in the locker room. That lead to much more drinking. They snuck off to one of the many empty offices at Full Sail University as the film crew closed down the set.
Corey turns his camera on as he tells Ravyn to kiss Seth. She visibly hesitates, but ultimately does what Corey asks of her. Corey films while Ravyn and Seth make out and sloppily grope at each other. Corey's hand reaches into frame to tug Ravyn's tank top down around her midsection. Seth yanks his own shirt off over his head and drops it at their feet. Corey pushes them towards the black leather couch against the wall of the office.
The camera fumbles as Corey hands it off to Seth. Corey's hand immediately wraps into Ravyn's thick hair, yanking her towards him. Their lips crash together while his hands shed her remaining clothing. He's much rougher with her than Seth, which only seems to turn all of them on. Seth sets the camera down on top of the desk just across the room and then returns to the couch. Corey has stripped down and grabs at his girlfriend hungrily. He guides her head towards Seth's crotch while he kneels behind her. The three of them are all over the couch, changing positions multiple times before the camera cuts out seven or eight minutes later.
She stares at the phone in her hand for a long time. The screen goes black as she continues to try and process what she had just watched. The video that the whole world and all of her coworkers now have access too. Tears stream down her face as she sits frozen in the lonely cold locker room. Feeling filthy after watching herself on camera she grabs a towel from a neatly stacked pile at the end of the bench and heads to the shower. Thankful for AJ's private locker room she cranks the water up as hot as her pale skin can tolerate. The scalding water pelts her flesh as her mind runs the gauntlet of emotions. She can't stop the flood of tears. Sinking to the floor she sobs sitting alone in the shower.
Having lost complete track of time she jumps when she hears AJ's concerned voice calling into the shower area, "Babe? You okay?"
She does her best to answer him while trying to compose herself. "Yeah," her voice wavers.
AJ pokes his head into the large open shower area. He scans the tile until his eyes fall on Ravyn. Curled into a soaking wet ball against the wall of the shower. He reaches in and turns the steaming water off. Almost in a panic he grabs for the towel and rushes to her side.
"I'm fine," she says unconvincingly as he helps her to her feet. "Just needed a little alone time to cry."
He wraps the towel around her shoulders as carefully as he can, "Have you been in here a long time?"
She nods as she takes the towel and tucks one corner into the top of itself so it will hold itself up on her body, "I came in here after the meeting, after I ran into Corey in the hall. He really got to me," she swallows fighting back another wave of tears as she gets dressed. "Then I watched the most recent video. And it.. I..."
He shushes her, not needing to hear any more. Pulling her into a strong protective embrace he kisses her forehead. "I've got you now. Don't worry," he coos. "I'll protect you... I love you."
She tenses up at his words, not sure exactly how to handle the outpouring of emotion from him. She panics, looking for the fastest way out of the room. "I... I... Have to go do... Something," she stammers before rushing out into the hallway.
Irrational fear overtakes her as she starts rushing through the backstage area with no actual destination in mind. She avoids the women's locker room, not wanting to talk to anyone but her best friend. She speeds through the cement corridors until she comes to a door with Dolph's name on it. She knocks frantically and then paces the hallway until she hears the doorknob start to turn. Not waiting to be invited in she brushes past Dolph in a desperate attempt to find JJ.
"Sure come on in," Dolph says sarcastically.
Ravyn looks around feverishly for her best friend, "Where's J?"
"Mexico," he reminds her.
"Fuck, I forgot," Ravyn huffs.
He raises an eyebrow at her distressed state, "Where's the fire? You okay?"
"No," she admits. "Nothing is okay. Literally nothing."
Dolph sits down on a steel chair and starts putting his boots on as Ravyn begins a new pattern of pacing the floor, "You wanna elaborate?"
She doesn't need any encouragement, "As If Corey coming to 205 Live and being a huge douchebag wasn't bad enough, now I've got videos of my sex life spread all over the Internet. The company trusted me enough to give me the title, but now I can't even be on TV for who knows how long. Because the office is afraid that the crowd will go into business for themselves and ruin the show with chants about me being a huge slut. I'm not even allowed to do appearances or be on house shows for a while." She pauses only for a second and then picks up right where she left off, "I just watched myself getting railed like a pornstar on camera. And on top of that I'm pretty sure every single person I've walked by today has either laughed at me or pitied me. And I'm not sure which one is worse. And the coup de gras... I think AJ just told me that he loves me."
Dolph waits to see if she's going to continues before speaking, "That's all pretty awful and Corey is a piece of shit." He starts to chuckle. "But do you realize just how ridiculous that last part sounded?" She crosses her arms, unamused by Dolph's laughter. "You just came tearing in here all fired up and upset because the guy that you've been dating for months, who's arguably the best thing that's ever happened to you, told you that he loves you." He lets that sink in for a moment before going on. "The man that you KNOW you've actually got feelings for. Now that he wants nothing more than to stay by your side during what may be the darkest moment in both your personal and professional life. You're here, hiding from him. Please tell me that you see the humor in that."
"Damnit," she curses. "What do I do? Do I go tell him that I love him too? I'm not even sure I'm ready to say that! Do I keep avoiding him until after the show?"
Dolph laughs, "Man, you broads ARE complicated. I wish Jenn was here to tell you how insane you are. Because I don't think it's quite the same coming from me."
She finally realizes how right he is and thanks him. Heading straight back to AJ's locker room she finds it empty. She waits a few minutes hoping that he will return. Two feverish laps around the room and she gives up. Bursting out of the doorwa, she nearly collides with AJ who has since changed into his ring gear. They stand awkwardly staring at each other, both of them hoping that the other will speak first. After what feels like forever Ravyn starts apologizing.
"I'm so sorry," she starts.
But AJ cuts her off, "No, I'm sorry. I should have kept quiet. You know... Until this whole thing blew over. I just hate seeing you so upset."
She dabs at the tears welling up in her eyes trying desperately not to smudge her makeup even more, "Thank you." She buries herself into his chest and breathes in a deep sigh. She momentarily gets lost in the scent of his cologne. "Everything has just been so overwhelming. And you've been so good to me."
"I told you. I'm here for you. And I mean that," he squeezes her reassuringly. "Why don't you come home with me after Smackdown. We've got a few days off before we head back to the southwest."
She nods tearfully, "I'll get my flights switched. I think I need a few days in the country with you as my only human contact."
"We don't have to leave the house even once," he chuckles and kisses her forehead.