A/N: Shout out to the ones that reviewed, read, loved, and hated this story. I appreciate you all, and the reviews from the last chapter got my ass going on this one. I haven't forgotten about this story or my lovely readers; just a stroke of bad luck headed my way these past few weeks...smashed into a deer that costed me almost four grand in damage. Thankful for having insurance...That being said, here's another one for you all.
"Welcome back, girlfriend," Paige offered AJ a side-hug, which was extremely awkward as they both had enormous bags slung over their shoulders.
It had been a week since AJ had been sent to work with the NXT crew, and she honestly could say she didn't miss being on the main roster one bit. The more time she spent with some of the amazing, talented people in the training center, the more she realized how much heart and soul they had. Each one of them was giving every once of energy they had deep within themselves to really make it. And, in turn, how many people that were already pulled to the main roster that weren't quite in the same mindset. But as she knew, it wasn't always about the most talent; it was what was most marketable and most profitable.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in a year," Paige continued to ramble, filling AJ in on some of the gossip and some of the ideas that the divas had come up with to keep the 'divas revolution' relevant. AJ tuned out her friend as they made their way down the cold, weirdly damp hallway of the arena they'd be in. It was the Smackdown taping, and as far as she knew, Seth wasn't scheduled to be there. For a hair, she felt a bit disappointed; she missed the Power Ranger-look-alike pain in the ass quite a bit. But they way he'd responded to her text kept her grounded. She'd stuck to her word, and didn't respond to anything he'd sent after that. She'd watched Bleacher Report's updates of last night's RAW on her iPad while she was flying back from Florida, and she knew that Seth's storyline was weakening. She could see the cracks in the exterior, just as she had when CM Punk's championship reign was crumbling...in fact, AJ decided, it would be in mere months that Seth would drop the title.
She knew that he was a good champion, deep down. But this one, she thought, would be fair to blame on horrible booking and bad script writing. Where did the WWE find the people to write these scripts? She recalled the fun, hokey stories that had entranced her as a teenager; the love triangles that actually made sense, the unbelievable talent and chemistry of every single tag team, and the intriguing weight divisions. Nowadays, you didn't know who was supposed to be a heavyweight and who was meant to be more of a cruiserweight. It was little things like that, she supposed, that made a lot of older fans slowly begin to tune out.
"Hey, AJ," Kevin Owens smiled at the smaller woman as he toted his belt down the cement walkway. He was already dressed in his ring gear, but AJ figured that it wasn't hard to throw on a pair of socks and shorts and call it a day. The guys who didn't have the complex bodysuits like Roman or Seth really had it made.
AJ gave Kevin a half-hearted wave, not sure if recollected ever speaking to him prior to today. She was also rattled to be drawn from her own thoughts, yet somehow glad that she was. Once she began to think too much, she was really on a downward spiral. Paige shot him a complete "WTF?" look, allowing her eyebrows to knit together.
"Hello, to you, too. Now move along," Paige dismissed him with a casual flick of her wrist, to which Kevin responded with a particular finger. AJ was appalled for a half a moment before she realized Paige was smirking, and Kevin was making a sour face.
"Something that I should know about?" AJ questioned, and Paige's expression matched the same sick-looking one the champ had worn just a second ago.
"Yeah, right! We've just known each other forever. Besides, he's involved with someone, I'm involved with someone...you know," Paige seemed almost too quick on her response...
"Forget about him. How was NXT? How was Bay? Did you have to slum with the evil redheaded wench?" she quickly sputtered out a hundred things, trying very hard to get the subject off from the obvious tension between both Paige and Kevin.
Unsure of what to answer first, AJ just rolled through predictable answers quickly. "NXT was fine. A lot of hard work since I had gone through it...um...Bayley is Bayley...and I had to work with Eva, which was surprisingly fine."
Paige wrinkled her nose as they got to the Divas locker room, which was already swarmed with stylists and seamstresses and hairspray and powder. Eden Stiles sat on her cell phone while a sleepy-looking stylist curled large ringlets in her sleek hair, neither of them speaking. Across from her, Charlotte was getting gems appliqued to the side of her face. She sighed a breath of relief when she saw that the Bella twins weren't around.
As if she read her friend's mind, Paige offered her a smile. "You know it's rare they hang around here before the show. They've got better things to do."
AJ shrugged. "I guess. I just don't want to start more crap on my first night back. I know they're not particularly on the board of Team AJ right now, and as much as I'd like to move on from one of my least fine moments with the company, I bet it'll be awhile before they even acknowledge that I exist."
Paige whipped off her hooded sweatshirt, revealing her black tank top. She was digging around her bag for her ring gear, a distant look to her eyes. AJ knew that this little rivalry she seemed to forever have regarding the Bella twins weighed heavily on the young diva. While she and AJ had hit it off immediately, she still had some allegiance towards the identical women, too.
AJ wasn't scheduled to actually wrestle, so she decided against putting on her ring gear. All she was slated to do was make her return, providing another epic promo during a Bella segment. Nikki was set to fight Becky Lynch near the middle of the show, and AJ would have a few things to say. She was at least glad that whoever wrote their storyline had half a brain, because it appeared that the direction so far made a wee bit of sense.
Nervous to see the Bellas again for whatever weird reason, AJ rifled through her own bag, pulling out something that didn't look like she was about to do a drug deal. Black ripped jeans, studded belt, and...hmm...she pulled out a few different shirts, her phone rolling out with shirt she wore yesterday on to the wooden bench she was using for support.
Three missed calls, six text messages, and one voicemail.
Nope, nope, and more nope, she thought to herself. She knew that it was possible that Bayley was checking in to make sure she'd gotten to the arena alright, but the thought of Seth still trying to reach out to her made her ill. There was also the possibility that Finn wanted to talk again, which was fine; but AJ wasn't sure what to make of him right now, either...
Making a swift decision to check her texts at least, all three of them were from Finn. He wished her good luck on her appearance tonight, he hoped she'd made it back alright, and she should give him a call later on in the evening if she was up for it. She must've made a face, because next thing she knew, Paige was right next to her, propping an elbow up on AJ's shoulder as if she was some kind of a support.
"Why so salty, crumpet?" Paige drawled, trying to look at AJ's phone. She was already dressed for the night's event, but wore minimal makeup and hadn't had one of the stylists put in her blue extensions yet.
"You'd better get ready, dearie," AJ smirked, jerking her phone out of Paige's eyesight. Paige's mouth fell open, catching the name at the top of the screen. She made a grab for the phone, and AJ let her take it, a stunned expression crossing the younger diva's face.
"Is this-did you-are you...?" Paige was at loss for words, and AJ couldn't help but giggle.
"Well, I guess I've got a lot to fill you in on, too," she gently took her phone back, shoving it back into her bag. "It is. I didn't. We're not, but that doesn't mean we can't be," she answered all three questions with a gallant, beaming smile, suddenly realizing that she actually did have feelings for the demon himself. She suddenly felt overwhelmed; wasn't it too soon? After all, it seemed like just yesterday the public had caught wind of her cutting ties with her husband. The last thing she wanted was to seem like a floozy, even though Punk was the one...well, whatever.
Paige squealed, demanding AJ tell her more. Her ruckus caused the now buzzing room of divas turn to look their way, all curious to see what all the commotion was. AJ's face turned red quickly from the unwanted attention, quickly cursing at Paige for being a loudmouth. She promised that after the show they'd talk, ignoring Paige's attempts to get her talking.
"You lucky...you've got to be kidding me! You go, girl!" Paige hooted and hollered, and AJ elbowed her in the ribs to get her to knock it off. Of course, Paige being Paige, wasn't fazed by it at all. The chatter in the room grew, and at least now the other divas seemed more intrigued with their own conversations than the one the two dark divas were having. AJ breathed a sigh of relief. After all, how horrible would that be if locker room talk scared Finn off before it even started? Knowing her luck, that was fairly likely.
The buzz in the room came to an abrupt halt as the door swung open, hitting hard against the wall opposite it. All of the women turned or looked up to see Nikki and Brie storm into the room, each still wearing fancy sunglasses and holding their cups of iced coffees. They didn't make eye contact with anyone, but made beelines to the two swiveling chairs next to each other in front of large, lit vanity tables. They both wore nice, designer outfits, the sort that AJ could bet cost more than her entire wardrobe.
"Oh my god, I have got to get some of that under eye stuff for these dark circles. I look horrible," Brie stated to nobody in particular, putting her slick, black sunglasses in the crook of her purse. She rubbed her temples, clearly making a show of being exhausted. For whatever reason, people liked to watch them; fans and divas alike. Problem was, they knew it. AJ glanced around quickly, suddenly realizing they could be in the middle of a Total Divas clip. She didn't see any cameras around.
"Ew, yeah, you do. Your face looks like it's been knocked around a few too many times. Some super cute, stylish black eyes," Nikki taunted her sister, pulling off her own pair of sunglasses. She slid hers on to the vanity table, alongside the rash amount of brushes, palettes, sprays, and hot tools.
"Shut up, Nicole," Brie scoffed, rolling her eyes at her sister as she picked up a matte lipstick palette from her table, her eyes shifting quickly to the bright reds the twins normally wore on television. "Your head's been knocked around a few too many times," she mocked Nikki's snide voice, her tone matching the snotty one that Nikki exhibited more often than not.
Deciding she'd had enough of the Nikki and Brie show, AJ slowly made her way towards the heavy door. Paige had finally found her chair, trying to choose whether she wanted to do a black and purple eyeshadow, or all black. She wouldn't even notice if AJ had dipped out at this point. It appeared that everyone was busy and in their own little world, and she could slide back in once the chaos was cleared up to get her own makeup put on. Putting the outfit she'd picked for her promo on the very top of her packed items, she quickly shoved her bag into one of the rickety old lockers that lined the wall, making her way towards the exit.
"Hey, AJ, wait for a second. Don't leave so soon," Nikki had whirled around in her chair, a small smile on her face. She had dots of foundation across her face, and the young woman doing her makeup looked perturbed.
Shit. She'd seen me in her mirror.
She made her way over to the former champion, cautious with her footsteps as she was now aware that literally every single person in the room was watching the two women. She held her breath, not sure what to expect from her.
"First off, AJ, I'm really glad you made your way back to the mains. And in one piece. Because we all know that Eva can't wrestle her way out of a bag...and we're glad she kept you in one piece. It's too bad that you have to job to her. Personally, I'd rather have taken the fine," Nikki sniffed, disapproving of the whole situation.
AJ shrugged, her tongue feeling like sandpaper. Brie was still turned around, saying nothing, two women curling her limp, dark hair. They were muttering about the cruddy organic product she was using, which made it hard for the curls to hold. Brie was clearly annoyed, then told them to just leave it hang straight if it was going to be that big of a deal.
"Also, I just wanted to say, on behalf of both myself and Brie, we are really sorry for the way we behaved on television. So sorry that we used your problems as a storyline without your approval. It was actually Naomi that had set us straight...she asked us if we'd like her to use the real problems that John and I had, or Brie and the Beard had-ow!" Nikki was rubbing the area of her upper arm that her sister had just pinched-"as a punchline. It sort of made us realize that it wasn't funny, and it was actually really mean. So, we're sorry," she held out her perfectly manicured hand, batting her eyelashes with a sad expression on her face. AJ was certain now that this was a phony apology. She would bet her whole year's salary that this was going to be used as material on the next season of their show. Either that, or Stephanie McMahon had struck the gavel down, demanding that they apologize for their outburst. Or, and it was most probable: A combination of both.
Sighing, AJ decided to take Nikki's hand, giving a curt nod as she gave it a shake. Nikki's hand was surprisingly warm.
"That doesn't mean we'll go easy on you in ring," Brie called over, her eyes closed as she was getting eyelashes glued on.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," AJ said quickly, her anxiety beginning to bubble over. She had to get out of there.
"That was actually quite sweet of you to do that," Paige smiled at the Bella twins, who gave each other a knowing stare.
"Well, it wasn't all us. She should've apologized, too, for reacting the way she did," Brie fussed with the Bella Butterfly headband she was wearing, the same bright red color she was now wearing on her lips. "But, I guess I get it. I don't know what I would do if I were in that situation. She had a lot of balls coming back here and showing her face, though."
"Yeah, we kind of were told we had to apologize to her. And the more I hear about her downfall, the more I feel kind of sorry for her. To be so far up on a pedestal only to be pushed down? Well, I guess I'm not actually that surprised... it is that grimy, dirty CM Punk guy, anyways," Nikki chimed in, standing up with her full face of makeup on.
"Doesn't make it right," Brie pointed out. "In any case, we don't really want the drama. We've moved on. And, from what we've heard, she's moved on, too," Brie winked at Paige, who pretended to zip her mouth shut. "I don't know a thing," she told the twins. "And I actually don't. I just know that she had a good time training in NXT, and enjoyed some time specifically with one of their top talents."
"NXT?" scoffed Nikki. "Yeah, right! We have a picture of her with-" Brie pinched her sister again, making her sister lightly punch her in the shoulder.
"Picture with who?" Paige demanded, getting excited. Sometimes, because Paige was still so young, she often fell prey to the gossip quickly. She liked to be in the know about everything. Unfortunately, the Bellas knew that about her.
"We think...or, we thought, that AJ was hanging around a former NXT superstar," Nikki said.
"But we've sent her a warning about him...he's not really a nice guy," Brie was now standing next to her sister, fishing her phone out of her front pocket.
"Finn? Finn Balor is a great guy!" Paige was annoyed at them now, and hated that they were talking in circles. They did this all the time; had some weird twin mind games power over everyone else, forgetting that nobody else had a damn clue what was on their minds.
"Wait, what? AJ is seeing Finn Balor?" It was Brie's turn to be confused. "But I saw her with Seth Rollins!"
"Seth! Yeah, right!" Paige shook her head. "Have you seen Seth's ex-girlfriends? They're models for tattoo magazines and stuff. No offense to AJ, because I love her to death, but she is not even kind of Seth's type," she was the last to stand up, making her way towards the exit as the other two women followed. "Besides, we all know that Seth is a straight-up fuckboy. And the hell if we're going to let her get her heart smashed all over again."
"Unless..." Nikki stopped mid-stride. "What if AJ is seeing them both?"
Paige laughed once, shaking her head and pulling on the older woman's wrist. "Let's go, detective. She's got a thing going on with Finn, and I don't know what it is, but it's good for her. He's a very sweet guy. And I've got no idea what she'd be doing running around with the likes of Seth Rollins, but I think it's really safe to assume that she's not messing around with him."
"I don't know..." Brie answered, uncertainty in her eyes. "From what I saw, it looked like they were having a lot of fun."
Paige brushed it off again, reminding them once more that Seth was too similar to the man that she had just fallen out of tune with. "She left Punk to get out of that life. You know, the cheating, angry, shitty attitude thing that he does? Well, Seth is just like that. Maybe she makes him smile once in awhile, but I truly doubt AJ would be interested in getting into a bad situation all over again. Not to mention, doesn't Zahra still comment on like, every single Tweet of Seth's? If that doesn't scream unavailable, well, I don't know what does."
Nikki and Brie agreed, making their way out to the hall. They each agreed that they would be heading to hang out in catering, even though none of them were particularly hungry. Paige led them, casually stopping and saying hello to people here and there while making their way towards the noisy room all the way across the arena.
"I think she took Dolph's warning," whispered Nikki to her sister.
"What?"
"I asked Dolph to tell AJ to back off from Seth," she stated. "It was my one good deed. She must've listened."
"Not that I care or anything, but...why'd you get Dolph involved? She hardly talks to him anymore."
Nikki glared at her. God, sometimes her sister could be a flaring imbecile!
"Who else would talk to her? Everyone's afraid to say the wrong thing to her. Afraid to get punched, or afraid that she'll have a mega-meltdown. And like hell if I was going to ask John to talk to her."
"Whatever. Dragging Dolph into this was stupid," Brie argued, her voice firm.
"Whatever, yourself," Nikki responded, ending the conversation. No matter what Brie said, she thought Dolph made the most sense. There was no way AJ would have listened to Nikki or Brie giving her a warning to watch her step. And Paige would've been a fair option, but was too busy with her own romance...and besides, Paige had a rough streak in her, too. She might've condoned a relationship between the Black Widow and the champion, if she were persuaded just right. And that just could not happen.
Like hell if anyone was going to knock Brie and Daniel or herself and Cena off from the WWE power couple list. At least if she was involved in a rookie or a retired asshole, that was definitely not going to happen. But if she made her way into a relationship with Seth, well, that would be talked about forever!
Oh, yeah, and she was going to get burned anyways, Nikki reminded herself. That was the initial reason she wanted this little puppy love bullshit between those two to end as quickly as it started.
Nikki had just won the match against Becky Lynch, and as usual, she was making a big show out of her victory.
Brie stood in the ring alongside her sister, both of them holding "L's" up with their fingers over their foreheads, reminding the Lasskicker that she'd just gotten steamrolled by the Bella twins. Becky was still on the mat, stars in her eyes after being hit with a spinning heel kick by Brie when the referee was busy shouting at Alicia Fox to get off from the ring apron. She had blown him a kiss, feigning deep interest in the young official, which kept him preoccupied long enough for a short switch and a huge win.
"Congratulations, Team Bella," said AJ, her picture now on the titantron. She could hear the fans in the arena go crazy as they realized who was speaking to the three women in the center of the ring, which only made her smile more genuine. Ah, how she had missed working the crowd like this. Even though she couldn't see the women in the ring, she knew that they were pretending to be shocked that she was there.
"I know, I know. You missed me! How could you not? I keep things interesting around here. Anyways, as you guys might know, I've been hanging around with the NXT crowd the last couple weeks, helping out there. Getting my skills brushed up on. And, of course, ensuring that the next crop of divas to come over aren't a thing like you three," she smiled as she heard the crowd gasp and shout at her jab.
"Don't pretend you don't know what I mean. Sure, you have the looks, and can do a couple moves...but the last thing we need is another wave of cheaters. And that's why, Nikki, I'll be challenging you, Brie and an NXT rookie of your choosing to a match next Monday. And I'll be squaring up alongside Becky Lynch and a fantastic NXT rookie of our choosing. Good luck finding one, as you already have a load of haters in Florida. Well, see you later, girls!" AJ waved straight in the camera, allowing herself to look somewhat crazed. As the red light of the camera turned off, she could already hear the "Bayyyyleeeeey" chants ring throughout the arena.
Satisfied with her delivery, she made her way back to the rank locker room, anxious to get hold of Finn. She hoped he'd been watching. Rounding the corner, she found Kevin Owens, who gave her a sly smile as he politely said, "excuse me," letting her get through.
Man, he was acting strange.