Finn's post almost immediately goes viral. Slightly annoyed, but not angry, Skylar spends the next two days of the tour attempting to reassure her brother that there's still nothing going on between the two exes. Finn just laughs the whole thing off while she has to do damage control. In her limited down time before her flight back to Winnipeg she texts Seth to see if they're still on for a hotel gym cross fit session on Sunday. She thinks nothing of it when he doesn't respond right away. Soon she's in the air flying home and the thought escapes her completely.
"Kenny, no, really," she sighs into her phone as she fights her way into her apartment door with her luggage from Japan in tow. "I promise you that it was all a joke. Me dating Finn again is about as likely as me dating Matt or Nick."
He huffs, "They're both married, Koneko."
"Exactly," she says sharply. "Never gonna happen. Besides, I like someone else anyways."
He's quiet for a second. She can almost hear the mental Rolodex flipping around in his brain, "Who?"
She snorts, "Oh hell no! I'm not telling you. I'm not telling anyone!"
"Come on! I'm your big brother!" He tries to convince her.
"Not happening, Hoshi," she tells him as she dumps her keys onto the table. "Let me let you go. I need to unpack and do some laundry. I'll text you before bed."
Skylar manages to end the call without having to tell her brother about her crush on Seth Rollins. A quick trip to the building's office has her climbing back up the stairs with an armful of packages. She immediately tears into the one with the return address of Kenny's seamstress. Delicate tissue paper goes flying in every direction as she opens up her new ring gear. The soft black satin fabric with metallic gunmetal grey accents. Before she even realizes it she's stripping down in the kitchen and trying on her new gear.
She flips light switches on as she sprints down the hall to her room where her full length mirror is. The first look at herself makes her squeal. The top is a black strappy racer back style sports bra with a metallic gunmetal grey band along her ribcage, criss crossing behind her back and coming up over her shoulders. A simple small omega symbol is stitched on the top part of the right breast. The shorts are the same color scheme with black as the base and the shiny grey laced up the sides of her hips through shimmering eyelets. An idea strikes her and she runs to her still unpacked suitcase to fish out her new leather jacket and boots. Back down the hall she skids to a stop in front of the mirror and finds herself breathless as she sees the complete package. She snaps a couple of pictures and sends them to her friends in the Bullet Club, wanting to surprise everyone else.
Marty is the first to respond, "Jesus girl, you look amazing." She can practically hear the phrase in his accent. A handful of other compliments roll in over the next few minutes before she finally takes off the tights and starts doing her laundry.
Skylar checks into her hotel in the early afternoon the following Sunday, excited to meet up with Seth and tell him the good news about her debut in person. She had texted him a few times over the week, but he hadn't responded. She had just assumed he was busy or his phone had been off while he was home. She texts him again as she pulls some gym clothes from her bag and gets changed. When she doesn't get a response in ten minutes she attempts calling him. His voicemail picks up after a few rings, though she doesn't bother to leave a message. After changing into her workout clothes she heads down to the hotel gym, hoping that he will just meet her there.
The fitness center is peacefully empty when she arrives. Surveying the surprisingly open space she's happy to see that there is more than enough equipment for their planned workout. She calls Seth again, and once more the cell goes to voicemail. She leaves him a quick message and starts to warm up without him. She's joined in the gym shortly by Karl Anderson. It only takes a few moments for him to pick up on her soured mood.
"You okay Hoot?" He asks carefully.
She shrugs glumly, "I think I got stood up."
"Like for a date?" He questions. "And now you're in the gym beating away your frustrations?"
"Eh.. Not quite," she tells him. "The workout was supposed to be the date I think." He gives her a skeptical eye as he tries to hide his smirk. "Not like that! Jerk!"
"Hey, you said it," he laughs. "Who was it? Do I need to beat someone up?" Her silence implies that she's not quite ready to spill her crush's name. "You don't have to tell me. If your date was in a gym I can pretty much guess who it was Hoot."
"He hasn't returned any of my calls or texts since Raw," she admits.
"Brother is probably busy. He's a top guy," Karl rationalizes. "He'd be a fool to stand you up on purpose."
She sighs sadly, "I hope I didn't do something to upset him."
Karl starts to set up his workout spot and reassures her, "I'm sure you did nothing wrong. And even if you did. Fuck him. You do what you want. You're part of the Bullet... Uhh, Balor Club. If he doesn't want you there are literally thousands of other brothers out there."
"I think that was supposed to make me feel better, but it really didn't," she laughs. "If you're gonna brother me. Please, just brother me softly Hoot."
Karl laughs loudly at her using one of he and Gallows' favorite ridiculous phrases, "Sorry Hoot. Talk to him tomorrow at the show. He can't avoid you there."
She nods and continues her routine, getting lost in the loud music in her headphones. When Gallows shows up and the two good brothers start to get loud Skylar calls it a day and goes back to her room. She gets cleaned up and texts Kenny as she climbs into bed. Flipping through the channels on the TV she finds The Birds is just beginning on one of the classic movie channels. She takes a picture of the screen and sends it to Marty with a comment about needing his umbrella to fend off avian attackers. He's quick to reply, offering his protection against any birds that may dare. Less than halfway through the movie she's asleep.
Late the next morning Skylar meets Karl, Luke and Finn in the lobby of their hotel. Finns shining smile greets her as she steps off of the elevator. "Big day today," he says as she approaches.
She nods, "Yep."
Confused by her simple response he can't help but ask, "Everyting okay?"
"Fine," she lies. "Just nervous."
Though the former Universal champion doesn't quite believe her he accepts her answer, "You'll be fine. You just debuted in the Tokyo Dome. Raw in New Orleans is noting."
"Ferg is right," Gallows adds. "You're gonna feel like you're back on the indies tonight."
She quickly realizes that she needs to fuel the facade, "I just hope people recognize me."
Karl sees what she's doing and plays along, "After all those people watched brother Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom, they'll definitely know who you are." Ever the good brother he changes the subject and gets everyone to the car so they can head to the building.
When they arrive the four of them change into some workout clothes and hit the arena floor. The ring is already occupied by a handful of other superstars preparing for that evenings show. While they wait their turn to get in the ring Skylar starts running the arena stairs. By the sixth time up and back down she's almost completely blown up. The actual ring workout is short after her extended cardio session. As the four of them walk back to the locker rooms Skylar sees Seth leaving catering. She rushes ahead of the boys to catch up with him.
"Hey," she calls as she draws near.
He turns around to see the raven haired woman hurrying over and she's greeted with a distant, "Hey."
"I've been trying to get ahold of you..." She tells him quietly. "You missed our workout yesterday... Is everything okay?"
"You tell me. Is it?" His response is a little colder than she expected.
Perplexed by his frigid demeanor she back pedals a bit, "... Did I do something wrong?"
He shakes his head, "No, not really."
She senses some apprehension in that sentence, "You sure? Because you seem mad at me."
"What are we doing here Sky?" He crosses his arms in front of his chest with a sigh.
"What do you..." She doesn't even get to finish her thought.
"I mean with us," he interjects sharply. "We flirt and I think that you're into me. Then you're off in Japan and on the road here with guys that look like a lot more than just friends. So are you seeing Finn? Is that's what's going on?"
"Finn is very much my ex," she retorts defensively.
Seth's hands move to his hips, "Well that's not what it looks like. It looks like a whole lot more."
"I assure you that's not the case," she spits as she realizes that the photo came back to bite her.
"So if not Finn then who?" His tone is snarky. "That British guy from Japan? Someone else? Who's it going to be next?"
Before he can say another word he's cut off by her fist grasping his black t-shirt and pulling his face down to her level. Their lips crash together for the first time. The butterflies she normally feels when she's with Seth are multiplied exponentially as they break away from each other. His hand finds hers and wraps around it tightly.
"I want you," she whispers breathily. "Not anyone else."
"Well now I feel like a fucking asshole," he chuckles as their foreheads bump together. "I'm sorry I said that before. I shouldn't have listened to locker room gossip."
"Shh," she giggles. "Kiss me again you fool."
Once again their lips meet. This time their kiss is deeper, a little more intense. Her stomach flip flops, unable to even process the moment. A whistle from down the hall startles them into breaking their moment. She blushes when she sees Karl at the end of the hallway smirking at the pair of them.
"I've gotta go," she blinks. "Big night."
"The debut? Tonight?" He asks excitedly. "You'll be great. Can I see you later? After the show?"
She nods as her pale cheeks flush with color, "I'd like that."
She starts to walk away to get ready. Their hands stay touching until the very last possible second. As she gets to the break in the hallway her head swivels back to get one last look at him before disappearing around the corner.