Monday 18th November

"You know, it's rude to play with your food."

Alexa immediately stopped dragging what was left of her salad around the plate, glancing up at the amused face of Phil. The man dropped into the seat opposite her, placing his own lunch in front of him.

"What's up?"

She averted her gaze back to the plate, mumbling, "Nothing."

Phil's brows furrowed in concern. In all the years he'd known her, he'd never seen her quite so... withdrawn. He knew things between them were still a little, off, considering everything that had gone on, but he still knew her well enough to see that something was bothering her.

"Bullshit." Came his reply. "Look at you, something's been bothering you for a while. You've lost some weight, you're so quiet, which, you know, is so unlike you. What's going on?"

Alexa softened slightly at the obvious concern in his voice, but that still didn't mean she wanted to talk about it. "I'm fine, okay? I'm just... in a funk, I guess. I'll get over it."

Phil cocked an eyebrow, clearly not believing her but deciding to drop it for the sake of keeping the peace. "Alright."

''So, how's the head?"

She was keen to change the topic of conversation, and she'd heard through April that he'd suffered a concussion before heading on the overseas tour a few weeks prior.

"Better." He said stiffly. "At least I'm not continuously dry heaving, or puking now, so.."

"Why did you even go on the tour? You should've been at home resting."

"Right? That's what I said." He let out a derisive snort. "I went to doc right after my match and I told him straight. 'Dude, I have a concussion.' I've been wrestling long enough to know that, you know? But he was leaning on me going 'do you want me to... do you definitely have a concussion or can you go to Europe' kind of thing. And I was just like 'you fucking... you pigs. I'll go to Europe. Whatever.' That's on me. That's my fault. I probably shouldn't have. After every match, I was on all fours puking, or dry heaving because I literally had nothing in my stomach. I had no appetite. I don't know what is up and what is down. I can't sleep. I can't fucking train... It was rough."

"Jesus Christ." Alexa trailed off, not quite knowing what to say to that.

"It's.. I'll be alright." He said, sounding a lot more certain than he looked.

"Phil-"

Whatever she was about to say was cut off by two hands covering her eyes, and a familiar voice sounding behind her.

"Guess who, pequeño?"

Alexa brushed the hands away as she swivelled in her seat, her face lighting up when she found Oscar grinning back at her. Shoving the chair away with her leg, she pulled the man into a tight hug, earning herself a laugh from Phil across the table.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" She said, releasing him and taking a small step back. "And you need to stop calling me that, I'm taller than you, dude."

''Never." He shot back. "You'll always be little Lexi to me."

"It's good to see you back, man. I'll leave you guys to catch up." Phil rose from his seat, grabbing his plate as he shot her a pointed look. "And Lex, eat something."

Alexa walked backstage at the close of the show, having just been on commentary for the main event. Commentary having been cover so that 'Sierra' could be out there to cost The Shield their match that night.

They were starting to amp up her feud with The Authority and The Shield, hoping for a slow burn that would finally come to a head at Wrestlemania. Being involved in such a big angle was exciting, to say the least, especially considering that fact that she was a woman.

"Hey, wait up!"

Turning, she found a panting Oscar jogging to catch up with her. He'd just successfully made his return from an almost year long absence, and his happiness at being back in the ring was clear to see.

"Good to be back, huh?"

"Unbelievably good." He grinned, falling into step as they carried on towards the locker rooms. "So, I have a question for you."

"Sounds ominous."

"It's not! I was just wondering if you were busy after the taping tomorrow night?"

"No, I don't think so." Alexa glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I mean, our flight back to Vegas isn't until Wednesday morning, so... why?"

"I feel like we need a proper catch up." He said softly as they came to a stop outsie the locker rooms. "There's some.. things I think we need to talk about."

The confusion on her face soon lifted, realizing exactly what he was talking about. "...You knew?"

Sighing, he reached up to untie his mask before looking at her, regret clear in his eyes. "Pequeño-"

"No." She snapped, stepping back from him. "Just.. no."

"You've got to understand-"

Something inside finally snapped, she was so tired of people trying to tell her what she should, or shouldn't do. Vickie had been constantly approaching her saying the exact same thing before she shut it down. Even Jon had been, in his own way. Telling her that he knew it was hard, but that she'd have to talk about it eventually. She refused to hear it anymore.

"Just shut the fuck up, Oscar." Alexa growled, all the anger she'd been feeling finally erupting and he was the lucky recipient. "Don't you dare tell me what I have to understand. I've just found out that everything I knew about myself has all been a lie. And not only that, but the people I love, the people I consider my family, have lied to me my enitre fucking life. You have no idea how I'm feeling right now so don't presume to think that you have any right to tell me what to do."

Her tirade left them both stood in quiet disbelief for a moment, but whatever he was going to respond with was interrupted by an awkward throat clearing off to the side.

Colby's eyes darted between the pair of them before finally settling on Alexa. "Uh... Jon sent me to ask where you wanted to stop to get food on the way out..."

"I'm not hungry, so wherever you guys decide is fine." She told him, not even looking at Oscar as she moved towards the door.

"Lex-" Oscar began, only to have her cut across him.

"I'll meet you guys at the car, okay?"

Colby could only nod as she entered the room, the slamming of the door behind her seeming to echo throgh the hall. The other man let out a resigned sigh before he headed in the opposite direction, leaving the Iowan wondering what the hell was going on.

WWEGraves: You'd think that after a full year in the company, the Shield would have found the entrance ramp by now #RAWCountry.

RealSierra: See what I had to work with, Corey? Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest.

WWEGraves: Which one's which?

RealSierra: I'll leave that open to interpretation.

A/N: Let me know what you guys think! Are you looking forward to Lex going on a spiral?