Disclaimer: I do not own Christian/Jay Reso or WWE. I only own Dawn Ricard/Scarlet, and of course, the plot.
May 6; Friday.
It was two in the morning, but Dawn was still lying on her bed with eyes wide open as she stared at the ceilling. She had spent her whole evening in her hotel room, thinking about things.
Her new storyline excited and terrified her at the same time. It excited her because she thought that it was going to be something the WWE universe would be buzzing about, but it terrified her because she was going to be working with John Cena and Mike Mizanin - two guys whom she was romantically involved with before, and Melina Perez, whom she's going to work with for the first time.
She thought about Mike, although she knew that it was pointless to think about him. She was trying to analyze his actions; why did he wanted her back, if he was still with Maryse? That was enough reason for her not to believe him when he tells her that he still loves her and wants her back. Dawn knew Mike was toying with her, but she still didn't understand why he was. Dawn knew better now, and if Mike's playing head games with her, she's confident to think that he'll lose.
And then... there's Jay. No matter how hard she tried not to think about him and get him out of her head, she couldn't find the strength to.
Dawn still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she wasn't going to work with him anymore. She was blaming herself from what happened, and maybe this separation between them would do them wonders. Christian would be the top dog on SmackDown, and she would be the most sought-after Diva on the Raw roster. She was expecting to get call or even just a text from him last night, but she got nothing. Maybe he was already avoiding her, but Dawn didn't want to think that he was. She could've been the one to call or text him, but she didn't want him to annoy or bother him. And besides, Dawn was never the one to make the first call or text to any guy - no matter how much she liked him.
As she continued to get lost in her thoughts, she was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door closing. Dawn rose up from her bed and saw Stu Bennett... only in clad in a towel. His usual slicked-back black hair was wet, and he almost looked like a baby to her with the way his hair matted into small curls. Her eyes widened when she saw his torso, and she swallowed. Sure, she'd seen him topless in the ring a ton of times, but he wasn't in character now, he was just Stu, himself. From all of the constant thinking that she had been doing, she forgot that she was roommates with him for a few days. Well, Dawn was still thankful because it wasn't Mike or John, but then again, she'd have to deal with Stu who wasn't really a big fan of her.
"Ricard, do you know that it's rude to stare?" Stu told her as he stood in front of his bed, which was just beside Dawn's.
Dawn rolled her eyes and looked away before he saw her blushing. "I wasn't staring at you, Bennett. You just startled me because you closed the bathroom door so hard."
Stu chuckled. He did it on purpose just to get her attention. "I'm sorry."
Dawn raised an eyebrow at him. "Where's the real Stu Bennett and what did you do to him? The real Stu wouldn't be sorry for what you just did."
Stu walked towards Dawn's bed. He hovered over Dawn, who was getting intimidated by talking to him only in his towel. Stu's face was only a few inches away from hers, and she pretended not to be phased by him by making intense eye contact with him. "Oh Dee, you don't know who the real Stu is. You just don't seem to give me the time of day."
"Well," Dawn started, smirking. "I would give you my attention if you weren't so busy hating me."
Wait... what?
Stu broke their eye contact and walked away from her. Confused with what just happened, Dawn just looked at him as he opened his suitcase and grabbed some clothes, and got back inside the bathroom.
Stu didn't hate her, not one bit. Actually, he liked her way too much - he just never said it out loud. He acted the way he was around her because he was frustrated with himself; he couldn't understand the feelings that he would feel whenever he was around her, so he started building walls around himself just so she wouldn't make him weak. He didn't want his friends to think that he'd gotten soft if he was being nice to her, but he didn't want to become a jerk either. He probably already was a jerk to her, and he didn't like that. He got dressed, ran a comb through his damp black hair, and got out of the bathroom.
"Dude," Dawn told him as he sat on his bed. "Walking out on me like that was just so not cool! You really do hate me."
Stu narrowed his eyes at her, but she just pouted at him and gave him her puppy-dog eyes. Stu found her more cuter than ever. "I don't hate you, Dee."
"Then why did you just walked out on me?" Dawn replied, tilting her head to the right side as she looked at him.
"I had to get dressed - you looked intimidated by me in just a towel." Stu said, chuckling as he winked at her.
Dawn's eyes widened and crossed her arms as she shook her head. "I was not intimidated!"
"Then why were you blushing?" Stu asked her. She looked away biting her lower lip. "You were intimidated, sweetheart."
Dawn sighed. "Okay fine, maybe I was a little intimidated."
Stu chuckled once again. "A little? Judging by how red you looked a few minutes ago, I don't believe that you were just a little intimidated."
"Alright, you got me, you win." Dawn replied, giving it up before throwing one of her pillows at him.
The pillow hit Stu in the face, and he threw it back at her, landing on her lap. The two of them laughed for a few seconds, before silence started to sink in. Stu felt a bit easier around her now, since no one was looking at them. Dawn thought that maybe being roommates with Stu for a few days wasn't so bad; the guy's got humor, and she liked humor in a guy. And she believed him when he said that he didn't hate her. She just hoped that he was telling the truth.
Yawning, Dawn put her head on top of her pillow as she took up her bed and wrapped her blanket around her. She looked to her left, and found Stu sitting on his bed, looking at her. The lamp on their nightstand was still on, and their phones were on either side of the lamp.
"You look tired," Stu said. "You should get some sleep."
Dawn smirked. "I'll try."
"Don't try, do," Stu told her as he put his feet up on his bed. "We have rehearsals with Jay, Heath, and Paul in six hours."
Dawn smacked her forehead and sighed. Now she regretted staying up late. "Thanks for reminding me. I'll sleep now."
"You're welcome. Sweet dreams." Stu replied, before turning her back on him and closed her heavy eyes. She smirked at the last part, but then she frowned because she knew she wouldn't be having any good dreams soon.
Dawn woke up at around seven. She immediately got out of her bed, made her bed, and got inside the bathroom. After taking a soothing, warm shower, she put on some underwear, beige-colored shorts, a plain white t-shirt with a blue and beige flannel shirt over it, and a pair of black Vans lace-up shoes. She brushed her teeth and did her make-up. When she was done, she took off the towel from her head, and blow-dried her red hair. She didn't want to straighten out her hair today, because she will eventually wear it straight soon when she turns into Scarlet. So, she just left her hair with waves in it, and got out of the bathroom.
She sat on her bed as she took her phone from the nightstand. She saw a text message from Jay. Even though it only said good morning, she smiled. She texted him back with good morning as she put her phone inside the pocket of her beige shorts, stood up from her bed, and opened the door. She collided with someone, and when she looked up, she saw Stu, holding a plastic bag.
"Going somewhere?" Stu asked as he took a step back from Dawn.
Dawn nodded. "Yeah, I was planning to grab breakfast."
Stu gave her the plastic bag. Dawn took a look inside it, and smirked as she smelled the newly-cooked hash brown. "I already had breakfast, obviously. You were still sleeping when I left, so I just decided to bring you some breakfast."
Dawn smiled at Stu, and he smiled back. "Thank you."
"I know our rehearsals are still in an hour," Stu said as he watched Dawn take a bite from her hash brown. "But do you think we could go there now?"
Dawn nodded. She chewed some more before she swallowed. "Sure. I'd like to try out that updated version of my finisher on you."
Stu ruffled her hair and laughed. "I'd probably give you The Wasteland first."
Dawn laughed as she took another bite. She and Stu walked down the hotel hallway in silence until they got inside the elevator. When they made it to the lobby, they saw Heath and Paul waiting for them near the front desk. Stu and Dawn walked towards them, and when they were finally standing in front of the two men, Heath wiggled his eyebrows at Stu, while Paul's eyes widened at the sight of the two together. Dawn was now finished with her breakfast and was quitely sipping her beverage, completely oblivious to the silent teasing going on between Stu and Heath.
"Something wrong with your eyebrows, Heath?" Dawn asked as she stopped sipping her drink to look at Heath.
Heath stopped his eyebrow wiggling at Stu. Stu chuckled a bit, and so did Paul. "Nothing. Let's just go to the stadium and rehearse, okay?"
Dawn rolled her eyes and nodded as she started walking with the guys. She made small talk with Paul while Stu and Heath were ahead of them.
"So, you and Dawn are best friends now huh?" Heath joked.
Stu shook his head and laughed. "No, but we're getting there though."
"Well, good luck with that," Heath replied as they stopped on the sidewalk, waiting for the silver Escalade to pick them up. "Haven't you heard that she's moving back to Raw?"
Stu looked at him with wide eyes. "Are you serious?"
Heath scratched the back of his head and looked confused. "I thought you knew."
"I know now." Stu said as he sighed, before the silver Escalade stopped in front of them. Paul ended his conversation with Dawn as he decided to occupy the passenger seat. Heath, Dawn, and Stu decided to sit in the backseat. Once they all had their seatbelts on, the car started driving away from the hotel. Dawn was still sipping her beverage, and Stu tried not to look at her, but he was distracted by the way she was sipping her drink from that straw. Dawn, on the other hand, sat in silence in the middle of Heath and Stu, happily drinking her Pepsi Max.
His mood suddenly changed when he found out that she'll no longer be on SmackDown. Of course she wouldn't tell him that she was going back to Raw because they weren't close, and they hardly talked before, because when they did talk, they would usually just argue and insult one another. Stu suddenly wanted to be back on Raw just so he could be with her for a little longer.
A few minutes later, they made it to Nassau Coliseum, which was near the hotel that they were staying at. The four got out of the car, and went inside the coliseum.
The ring was already set up in the middle. The crew was busy setting up the lighting, the ramp, and everything else that needed to be set up. Stu, Heath, and Paul were the first ones to get to ringside, while Dawn was left behind because she had to throw away her garbage. When she was done, she was about to walk towards the ring when two hands covered her eyes.
"Hey!" Dawn said, laughing. "Who is this?"
"Guess who." The voice said. And then she recognized who owned that voice - it belonged to Matt Korklan, better known as Evan Bourne.
"Matt!" Dawn said as Matt took his hands off her eyes. She turned around and gave him a hug. Matt chuckled and hugged her back.
"It's nice to see you again, Dee! Can't wait to have you back on Raw by the way." Matt said as he pulled back and smiled at her.
"Wait, how did you know that I was coming back on Raw? Did Vince tell everyone on the Raw roster or something?" Dawn asked, completely confused. She was pretty sure that she and Jay were the only ones who knew about her return on Raw, and Vince probably told Stu, Paul, and Heath too, but where did Matt find out that she was going to come back?
Matt shrugged. "He didn't. I just heard two people talking about you coming back and everything when I was in the hotel restaurant an hour ago."
"Two people? Did you know who they were?" Dawn asked.
Matt shook his head. "No, I didn't. But anyway, I'm here because the creative team said they updated your finisher and asked me to help you with it. What's it called?"
Dawn smirked. "The Whip of Fire."
"Oh yeah, right," Matt said before squatting down so he could give her a piggyback ride. "Let's go and I'll teach you how to do my spinning savate kick."
Dawn laughed, and jumped on his back. Matt slowly walked with Dawn on his back towards the ring, as Stu, Heath, and Paul watched the two. Stu will certainly miss her on SmackDown, but he knew that she belonged on Raw. Most of the people she knew and were close with are on the Raw roster, and Matt was one of them.
When they made it to ringside, Dawn got off Matt's back, and got inside the ring. Matt got inside the ring as well, and he started helping her stretch.
"Don't you wish you were Matt right now." Heath teased Stu they stood at ringside, watching. Dawn was now lying on the ring, with Matt holding up her right leg to stretch it out as far as it would go.
Stu just rolled his eyes at Heath, while Paul chuckled.
Jay was running late for today's rehearsals. He knew that Stu, Heath, and Paul were probably pissed off at him now, and Dawn probably was too. He mentally slapped himself for forgetting to text her back. Damn it! Jay thought to himself. He woke up a little late because he talked to his lawyer all night about the divorce and every detail concerning it, and their conversation ended at three-thirty in the morning. He did manage to get a few hours worth of sleep, but since he had a lot on his mind, it was like he didn't even got the chance sleep at all. It was eight-thirty now, and he hurriedly got out of his hotel room, fresh from the shower he'd just taken and was wearing one of his Christian shirts, a pair of distressed denim jeans, and rubber shoes. He took his phone out of his pocket, and saw the message Dawn sent him about an hour ago. He smiled before shoving his phone back inside his jeans' pocket as he got out of the hotel, and hailed a cab, because he knew that the four were already at the coliseum, and he had just missed a free ride.
A few minutes later, Jay paid the cab and got out. He ran inside the coliseum, and when he was finally at ring side, he was staring at Dawn and Stu, who were now Scarlet and Wade, as they were trying to wrestle one another.
Jay went to Dawn's side of the ring, watching as she and Stu went ahead against each other. When they were satisfied with their moves, they decided to call for a time-out.
"Hey Dee, I'm sorry if I'm late. Anything I missed out on?" Jay asked as Dawn got out of the ring and stood beside him. She didn't answer him verbally, but she shook her head no. Jay nodded, and looked at her. She must've been aware that he was now staring at her, so she decided to get off the apron and walk away from him. Jay sighed. He knew that she was silent because it was either she was pissed off at him for not calling or texting her last night, and not responding to her text this morning, or maybe she was starting to stay away from him just so they wouldn't have to talk to Vince again. Jay got inside the ring, and decided to talk to Stu and the other guys instead.
"What's up?" Jay asked Stu and Heath as they sat on the apron on their side of the ring. Jay was standing with his arms on the top rope, looking down at Stu and Heath while Paul was doing kicks and punches in front of them.
"Do you know that Dawn's going back to Raw?" Heath said, looking up at Jay.
Jay nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"That's crazy, right? I mean, our angle with her and you just started, and they decided to take Dawn out of it. Do you know why?" Heath asked, still not believing how fast the turn of events were.
Jay knew why, but he knew he shouldn't tell them. So, he just shook his head. "Not really."
Stu looked up at Jay - he didn't believe the guy even though he looked and sounded like he really didn't know. Stu remembered seeing them at Starbucks the other day, chatting and having coffee. But why would that be the reason? Was Vince mad because something personal was going on between them two that they had to separate Dawn from Jay?
Dawn called out the guys, and they went back to rehearsing again. The rehearsals went by smoothly, each one of them helping the other one out with how they're going to move and all that. By the time they finished, it was already noon time and Stu, Heath, and Paul decided to grab some lunch before heading back to the hotel. As they were walking towards the coliseum's exit, Stu looked behind him and found Dawn and Jay still inside the ring, standing in front of one another. They might just be running some of their lines, but Stu couldn't help but feel jealous - is there something going on between the two? He just shrugged and continued walking with Heath and Paul.
"Did you suddenly lost your tongue or something?" Jay said as he tried to make Dawn talk.
Dawn just stood there in front of him, still not talking. Jay, who was now frustrated, started walking back and forth in front of her. After a few minutes of pacing, Jay stopped in front of her. He lifted her chin up with his right hand, making her look at him. Her baby blue eyes were looking dull, and he missed how it twinkled whenever he looked at it. She was deeply affected by everything that's happening, and Jay knew it. He was affected, too.
"What do you want me to say?" Dawn finally spoke to him.
Jay sighed as he stopped holding her chin, and dropped his hand to his side. "You've been silent ever since I got here. I'm getting the feeling that you don't even want to talk to me anymore."
Dawn sighed as well as she ran a hand through her wavy red hair. "If I don't want to talk to you, I should've left with Stu and the other guys. I want to talk to you, but I don't know what to say after everything."
Jay grabbed her shoulders gently. Dawn slightly flinched because she remembered how Mike grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her into a wall roughly before. Jay noticed, so he made sure that he didn't squeeze her shoulders with his hands. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel worse than she already does. Dawn couldn't take it anymore, so she wrapped her arms around him, and buried her head into his shoulder. Jay was surprised by her action, but he hugged back. He ran his hands through her hair. Jay expected her to cry, but she didn't. Jay's heartbeat sped up as he felt Dawn's warm breath on his neck.
A few minutes later, she pulled back from him, and gave him one last look before getting out the ring. Jay was left standing there in the ring, trying to figure out what that hug was for.
You know what they say - actions speak louder than words.
Author's note: I know, I know, this chapter didn't much have action and whatnot, but I promise you - the next chapter will be so full of it! Please click the review button and tell me what you think or what would you like to see in the next chapters! Every review and opinion is appreciated! :)
Songs I listened to while writing this:
Feel the Silence - Goo Goo Dolls (the song that inspired me to write this chapter; where this chapter is based.)
Sentimental Heart - She & Him
Undone - Lifehouse
Hate Me - Blue October