But You're Not Mine

-December 31, 2013; Richmond, Virginia-

Tessa knocked lightly on Brie's hotel room door. She had been told to meet the girls there are 6 and from there they would meet John and Bryan downstairs. Tessa was happy to know that they hadn't found her a date.

Nikki opened the door, looking Tessa up and down immediately, checking out what she was wearing. She huffed lightly before turning around. Tessa followed her in slowly, looking down at herself.

"Brie, Tessa can't come with us," Nikki called out, looking at Tessa over her shoulder.

"Why's that?"

"Because she looks better than us!"

Tessa, who had been genuinely worried she wasn't allowed to go to dinner with the Twins, let out of a sigh of relief. Her cheeks flushed red.

Brie's head appeared around the corner and she wolf whistled at her newest friend, "No way! The guys won't even pay attention to us if she looks like that!"

"Guys, don't be stupid," Tessa said quietly, holding her winter coat in front of her. "You both look better than me."

"Stop being modest, you look hot," Nikki pulled her further into the room to get a proper look at what she was wearing. The black coat was taken out of Tessa's arms and she was made to spin around. "I'm borrowing this dress."

"Your boobs won't fit into it," Brie said. "Mine, on the other hand, will. I will be borrowing it."

Tessa nodded with a smile on her face. Nikki slugged Brie in the arm. Brie hit her back but the fight didn't escalate beyond there. If it had, Tessa was quite accustomed to being the referee between her two older brothers and she would have been ready.

"We're ready if you didn't need to do anything else." Tessa looked at Nikki and shook her head.

The three made their way to the elevator, complaining about the weather they were about to encounter when they left the hotel. Tessa made a comment that she was the only one who really had to worry because she had no one to keep her warm. The twins wrapped their arms around her as soon as the words left her mouth and promised they wouldn't let her freeze to death.

She was left for dead when they walked into the lobby and Brie and Nikki made a bee line for their men. Tessa trailed behind slowly, wanting to give them time for hellos even though it can't have been very long since they last saw each other.

"We haven't actually met," John Cena said, holding his hand out to Tessa. "I'm John."

"I'm Tessa, it's an honour." She shook his hand and smiled at him in awe.

"Nah, none of that," John shook his head. "You're one of us now. Family."

The look on Bryan's face showed that he didn't agree with what John was saying. Tessa smiled at John thankfully before looking back at the ground. She felt someone's arm in the crook of her elbow and noticed that they had started to walk off.

Dinner was only just down the street from the restaurant and Tessa was surprised to see that a limousine had been hired to get them there. She was accustomed to small taxis with rude drivers.

The look of the restaurant said it all – everything on their menu was going to be expensive. Tessa had decided it would be wise to practically starve herself the entire day so she could get the most out of it. She didn't often eat at ridiculously expensive restaurants so when she allowed herself the luxury she splurged.

She sat awkwardly at the table beside Nikki, sitting opposite no one. She was the fifth wheel just as she had expected. The couples at the table did their best to include her in their conversation, and most of the time they succeeded, but every now and then they would lapse into their own little world, leaving Tessa to stare into space.

"So Tessa," John called her back into reality. "Nikki was telling me that you're going to be up against AJ."

Tessa nodded, "Me staring into nothing at the top of the ramp is me waiting for AJ to finally make an appearance at a show. It's leading to a title shot at some point."

"Must be nice to have the company so invested in you," Bryan said casually, looking directly at Tessa.

"It is nice," Tessa agreed. "It's also very daunting."

"You're an internet darling," John said with a chuckle. "You can't do much wrong when the internet loves you."

Tessa smiled discretely to herself. She knew how the internet reacted to her, she had known for many years. They followed her career religiously. No one seemed bothered by the fact that she never divulged too much about her personal life – it had been too much of a disaster to let everyone in on all the nitty gritty details.

"Let's hope Tia gets as good a reaction as June Jacobs."

"That might be hard to beat," Bryan commented. "June got as good a reaction as the top stars on some nights." He laughed, "More than once I was worried that I couldn't top her coming out."

Tessa was relieved that Bryan had started treating her normally. They seemed to have lapsed back into their past friendship. She leant forward slightly, happy to reminisce with him.

"I had so much fun as a heel," she admitted shyly. "It was exhilarating having so many people hate me. Riling them up was so easy. And then getting them to like me again... Probably should have been harder than it was."

"June Jacobs had a way of working the crowds," Bryan agreed with a laugh, eliciting one from everyone else at the table.

Dinner finished and John made to pay for everyone's meals, it was clear that Brie and Bryan had stopped trying to argue with him but Tessa had a hard time coming to terms with it. She never liked people paying for her; it was pride that stopped her from accepting gifts and the like. Eventually she had to give in and let John pay for her or they would have caused a scene in the restaurant.

"You didn't have to do that," Tessa said quietly, walking beside John as they exited the restaurant.

"You're family," he responded simply.

She hadn't felt at home in a wrestling company since her time at Ring of Honor. She had a few close friends in Japan – Yujiro and Alex, of course, but mostly the gaijin that came through because she hadn't ever learnt enough Japanese – but the companies had never really felt like family.

She hadn't seen her real family since October 2008.

As the night moved on, the group returned to the hotel. The New Year's celebrations were being held in the ballroom. People had already started the evening; music was playing and drinks were flowing. Tessa let her friends go about their business; she'd had enough of being a tag along to the couples.

"Long time no see, Jacobs."

"Creed! Hey!" Tessa exclaimed, leaning in to hug Austin Watson – better known as Consequences Creed or Xavier Woods. "We both made it, hey?"

"Didn't I tell you we would?" He reminded her and she thought back to his last day in New Japan Pro. He hadn't been with the promotion for long before he was swept up by WWE but they had become friends during the few months. With his last appearance he told her that she was going do to great things and that they'd be seeing each other again.

"Never wrong, are you?"

"Let me get you a drink," Austin said, gesturing towards the bar.

Tessa laughed lightly, "It's an open bar."

"I said I'd 'get' you one, nothing about buying," he explained. Tessa smiled, agreeing to his offer.

Austin let her walk just in front of him, allowing his hand to drop around her waist casually. When they reached the bar Tessa decided that the evening's poison was going to be Perfect Manhattans. Austin made a joke about her typically girly drink but ordered it nonetheless.

"You should go cloak your coat," Austin suggested, still holding onto her drink. "I'll be right here."

She smiled at him and walked to the designated cloaking area – smiling at the lady who took hold of her coat. Tessa was left in her purple and black, scoop neck, Alexander McQueen dress. She bought it months ago on a whim and hadn't worn it before that night. She figured that there was no better time than a WWE party where all of the Divas would be dressed to the nines.

Tessa was handed a ticket and as she walked away she opened her bag to put it in. Not looking where she was going, Tessa found herself bumping into another person. She quickly lifted her head, blushing in embarrassment.

"I'm so s-" she cut herself off when she saw who she had bumped in to. She finished in a quiet voice with her head hanging, "sorry."

Colby looked down at her for a long second before he continued walking, leaving Tessa staring at her feet. He was wearing the same suit he'd worn when The Shield presented a Slammy Award in early December and there was no way she could stop her heart from beating rapidly in her chest.

Making her way back to Austin, she looked around subtly to catch another glimpse of Colby. She had known he was going to be there, everyone was. Seeing him still managed to mess with her head.

"You look great," Austin said when Tessa returned to his side. She smiled at him thankfully and took her drink, instantly bringing it to her lips.

It didn't take too long for Tessa to drink her self-consciousness away and make her way to the dance floor. She wasn't the greatest dancer by any means – she dreaded the day she had to compete in a dance-off on live television – but with a few drinks she started to just enjoy the music.

She started to enjoy Austin, too.

Dancing was something Tessa did as long as she was alone. She was never much one for having another body pressed up against her but Austin somehow weaselled around that.

Time was on no one's mind as they danced in the middle of the dance floor, Austin's hands roaming over Tessa's body. She kept her eyes closed and, though she wouldn't ever admit it, she imagined that they were someone else's hands. She definitely should not have been thinking about Colby's hands.

The hand on her lower waist moved away only seconds before the one on her ribcage. She turned around quickly to see Austin walking away, looking like a scolded puppy and Colby Lopez standing not far away, his cheeks red and chest heaving.

"What was that for?" Tessa asked, following him off to the side of the dance floor. She tried her hardest to keep a straight face, not wanting to give anything away. She had just been imagining his hands had been all over her body.

"You don't dance like that," he said roughly, turning his back to her.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked angrily, turning him around forcefully. "I just was so clearly I do." She argued with him. It was obvious that people were listening to them; no one tried to hide it.

"You aren't that girl, Tessa."

"I didn't think I was the girl to cheat on her boyfriend," she spat at him. "But that happened, didn't it? Let me dance how I want. Leave me alone like I promised you."

Colby was left with his jaw slightly dropped and wide eyes when Tessa turned on her heel and stormed away.

At first she had every intention of trying to find Austin but she quickly gave up – finding any one particular person was near impossible. Instead she took a seat beside Jon Good and took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.

"What was that about?" Jon asked, glancing at her.

"I don't know. Something about that not being how I dance... Not that he should know – or care – it's been so long."

"His girlfriend's not here. He needed something to do." Jon was silent for a moment. "No kiss for you, then?"

"Not unless you want to do the honours," she was joking and it was emphasised by how ridiculously she batted her eyelashes.

"Spoken for," he told her, tipping up his glass and drinking the rest of his beer. "Darcy Quinn."

"The NXT Diva, right? Is she in Florida?" An image of a tiny, rebellious blonde entered her mind.

"She came up last year and refused to let me pay for her flight again," Jon explained, somewhat mournfully. There was an undercurrent of laughter to his voice.

"No kiss for you either, I suppose," Tessa joked.

He chuckled, "We're in the same boat."

Midnight drew nearer and everyone got louder. Tessa had never really understood the excitement that surrounded New Years Eve. As far as she was concerned, January 1 was exactly the same as December 31 – only she was more likely to have a hangover.

She leant back in her seat and watched as everyone began to count down. Colby was still across the room, looking at her over his beer.

The scene felt far too familiar, it sent her mind into a whirlwind of nostalgia.

a/n :D lots of hugs and kisses to TheLovelyCanche, UntilNeverDawns, Livin on the EDGE, Imagineer1392, CarolReigns, nmoxracha and ajroleplays for taking the time to review the previous chapter!

Next chapter is a flashback that will elaborate a lot on things said this chapter. Can't wait to read what you all think about this chapter!