Before getting into the discussion about Clementine's character changes, not wanting her to think their day was going to be all business, Jay decided to pose a question. He waited until they were sitting in the living area, Jay on one couch and Clem on the other, each with their coffee cups in hand. In order to get to the question he had in mind, he had to refer to the trip he and Erin had made to the Performance Center.

"So, I think I told you Erin decided to call up Kylie Estevez, right?"

"Yeah, you did. Said she's going to be on the team with me, Raquel and maybe Maya, if she does end up coming back to WWE."

"Erin really wants that to happen," he said, implying that it was important for Clem to do what she could with Hailey Upton to encourage her to change her mind a d get past her stubbornness.

"I'm working on it."

"She thinks there's a lot of money in Maya working with you, or against you for that matter."

"I'm working on it," Clem said, a little more forcefully this time. 'Don't keep pushing me when I'm already doing it' didn't need to be added. It was moments like that from Clem that caused Erin not to get along with her very well, whereas Jay knew she didn't mean anything by it. It was just how she talked. To him, it was relatable. He realised the conversation had quickly gotten away from the question he had wanted to ask.

"Anyway, when Erin told Kylie about the call up she was quite emotional. Then Erin told her she was going to work with you and she broke down. It was obvious that working with you meant more to her than the call up. It was striking because getting called to the main roster is such a massive step in a WWE career. Seeing her reaction was a profound moment for me." He stopped speaking, then realised he hadn't ended up asking a question at all. Nonetheless, his thoughts were out there for Clem to comment on. She looked humbled, he thought.

"Something changed when I was out with the knee injury, Jay. Before then, yes I was doing good work, I was popular with the fans and I did my best to be friendly and help people in the locker room when I could, but when I came back it was different. For whatever reason, I was looked up to more, respected more. Maybe the girls missed me when I was gone? I know the fans did. Then the whole thing happened with my contract situation and me deciding to leave WWE. We don't need to re-hash all that."

"No," Jay said thankfully.

"Erin might not like me for doing that when she was new to the top job, but in my opinion it was a stand that needed to be taken. It was a stand for respect and better working conditions for female wrestlers, and for black wrestlers. Since then, the rest of the girls act like... I can't find words to describe it."

"They revere you," he said, proud of himself for finding that word.

"I guess," Clem said uncomfortably. "Honestly, it's so bizarre to me. As far as I'm concerned I'm just a kid from Chicago who grew up with nothing. I was never special at anything. My grades in school were average at best. I sucked at baseball, much as I loved it. Basketball I was no better at. Got into wrestling because I loved watching it, and I had no particular desire to try any other kind of work. Now I make two million a year, and every woman who walks through the door in WWE looks up to me. They seek my approval, they seek my advice. They come to me with their problems. The treat me like a role model, like a sister, like a leader, even like a mother at times. Don't take this as me complaining because I'm really not, it's just... it's just... a lot to carry," she choked out, suddenly on the verge of tears.

Shit, Jay thought. The last thing he had wanted to do was upset her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to... I was actually going to ask how you carry it all."

"I don't know," she admitted quietly, shaking her head. In those moments, Jay saw a really vulnerable side of Clem. The heavy burdens she carried for WWE weighed greatly on her, he saw. Probably more than he, Erin or anybody realised. Yet she continued to do it without a word pf complaint, which said a hell of a lot about her. A true role model for people. The kind of person part of him he wished he could be.

"Can we, uh, talk about something else?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Of course. Again, I'm sorry I upset you. We should talk about the creative plans."

Clem took a moment to down some of her coffee. It helped her compose herself. "Before we do that, while we're on personal stuff, I want to apologise to you. I'm sorry for telling you what Alexa figured out about your childhood. It was wrong of me to put you in that position, and I don't know what came over me."

Well that came out of nowhere, Jay thought. Any mention of his childhood hurt. He didn't want to talk about it, even to acknowledge the apology, which he did appreciate. He nodded slightly, not making eye contact.

"Alexa was mad at me for saying anything, and at herself for telling me in the first place. We've both learned lessons from it. I'd appreciate if you didn't hold it against her next time you see her? Or against me, come to that."

Jay looked her in the eyes. There was something about the way she talked that showed she genuinely understood the depth of his pain. He saw it in her eyes too, and it made him wonder what he didn't know about her. There had to be something. That was the only was she could possibly understand.

"You get it, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes. You don't know about my parents, do you?" She seemed somewhat surprised by that.

"What about them?"

"They were killed in a car accident when I was ten. With no other family, I was fostered. Luckily, so luckily, the first family I went to were lovely people. They saved me. Wouldn't be here without them. I now call them mom and dad. But losing my parents at that age? That's hurt you never get over. I think that's why we get along well. That's all I want to say on that."

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What do you mean, that's why we get along?"

"Damaged people, Jay. Damaged through no fault of our own. Applies to Alexa, too. People like us seem to connect with each other in my experience. I'd guess it applies to Raquel too. Back when you had a certain negative reputation backstage, she was determined to make a friend out of you."

Jay looked down again. Clem's words had hit him hard several times in quick succession. The conversation was a lot deeper and more emotional than he had bargained on. Thinking about Raquel putting so much work into forming their friendship, despite Zelina's initial opposition, meant a huge amount to him. While he had always, appreciated it, he had never fully understood it. Now, maybe he did. Was Clem right? Had Raquel been through some childhood trauma that had caused her to understand his behaviour – that he had been the way he was not simply because he was an asshole. If that was the case, she had never mentioned whatever the childhood trauma was. But then she had never talked much about her time as an army combat diver either. Now he wondered if he was somehow letting her down as a friend by not encouraging her to open up to him more about her life. He simply didn't know, because he sucked at understanding other people.

"Are you saying that about Raquel because you know something, or is it a guess?"

"It's a guess. But I'd say it's an educated one. If there is something in her past, I figure she'll tell you about it before she tells me."

Jay nodded, conceding that point. "I'm feeling like I've not been as good a friend as I could be to her. It's dawning on me right now."

"Then do better," Clem said. It was said to encourage him, not to chastise him. "We're all learning, Jay. Every day, in every aspect of life, there are always things to learn and ways to improve. For me, that's how to measure if you're living life the right way: Are you a better person now than you were a year ago?"

"I am," he said without hesitation. "I am, and I'm so fucking proud of that." Suddenly, he felt tearful, so he looked away.

"You should be. I mean that."

Hours went by without the conversation turning to future wrestling plans once. Instead, they talked about life, relationships, friendships, and their career journeys in the wrestling business. When it suddenly occurred to Jay that he hadn't accomplished anything towards the entire reason the meeting had happened, he felt a moment of panic. But then he had a thought that even though that was the case, something had definitely been accomplished. Erin had wanted him to get closer to Clem, and they now were closer. Even he could tell that, and he was hardly the most perceptive person.

"We've not even talked about your character changes," he said, glancing at his watch. "You probably have to leave to make your flight fairly soon, huh?"

"Yeah," Clem said, grimacing. "Erin's going to hit the roof. She invited me to your home, flew me up here, and we've not done what we were supposed to do."

"Erin will be fine," he assured her, reminded again that to everyone else in the locker room Erin was the boss. They didn't see her the way he did. "Honestly, she'll appreciate that we've had the day we've had when I tell her about it. We'll have to get together again soon to do the character work."

"Come to our place," Clem said on the spur of the moment. "Alexa and I would love to have you. We could talk shop, have dinner, maybe go out for an evening. It'd be a nice time."

Jay's insecure side, which still existed, made 'fuck that' the first thought to go through his mind. But now he was strong enough to push past that. Yes, he would be out of his comfort zone. A long way out. Staying at a house that was new to him, with Clem who he didn't exactly know well, and Alexa who he didn't know at all. It would be good for him to push himself to do that. Erin would be proud of that too, and that meant a lot. There mere fact of it gave him untold encouragement.

"Or not. It was just an idea," Clem said, taking his moment of silence as a rejection.

"No, we'll do it. Sounds like a good idea, and I appreciate the invite. Honestly, Erin will be proud of me for doing something like that."

Saying that to Clem felt like laying his entire soul bare before her. That was how difficult it still was to open up to people other than Erin, and to a lesser extent Raquel. He could hardly believe he had said it.

Clem understood him, he saw by the look on her face. She reached out and put a hand on his knee. "That openness means so much to me, Jay. That will be the most important thing I take away from today. It's an honour for me to have you as my agent and producer. You're a good man. I mean that."

Jay put his hand on top of hers. There was nothing romantic or flirtatious about the moment, it was simply two people becoming closer to each other.

"Sorry if this too forward, but was there a specific moment you fell in love with Erin? Or did it happen over time?"

Jay wasn't sure where that question had come from or why it had been asked, but he was happy to answer it. "It happened over time, for both of us. But now it's very deep. So deep. My heart belongs to her. Does that make sense?"

"Sometimes you have an incredible way with words, Jay. I have chills right now. I truly felt that when you said it. Felt it to my core."

His instinct was to deflect. "What about you with Alexa? Did you have a moment when you fell in love with her?"

"Yes. After only our second date. I mean, the connection was so strong from the moment I first met her at the gym near where I lived at the time. There was something that pulled me to her so powerfully the first time I set eyes on her. So, after the second date, I got home and I had that amazing feeling you get after a successful date, and I got a text from here. She wrote 'In your eyes, the resolution of all the fruitless searches'. It gave me chills because of how beautiful it is. It has given me chills again now."

"That is beautiful," Jay said quietly, meaning it.

"Turned out its a lyric from a Peter Gabriel song called In Your Eyes. It's our song now, and I'm going to have it played at our wedding. Jay, I've got a ring. After the Royal Rumble, when I'm into this new character and I have time off, I'm going to take her away and propose to her in her favourite place. You're the only person on Earth other than me who knows that. Please keep it that way."

"Come here," Jay said, embracing her. "Thank you for telling me. Alexa is a very lucky woman."

"Jay?" Clem said, still hugging him.

"What?"

"Stop wasting time and marry Erin already."

More powerful words, and they hit home for Jay. Nothing in life could be taken for granted, and their engagement was dragging on. Frankly, he had put no impetus into it since popping the question. It was time for that to change.


A/N: I can only hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's possibly my favourite of the story. I love Erin and Jay together, but as I've said before Clem has been a special character to me since I introduced her to my writing in Keeping it in the Family. I always wanted her to play some part in Jay's growth in this story. It felt important to me. If it wasn't for the fact that neither of them are CPD characters, I'd consider a Clem and Alexa spinoff story.

Might we be hearing wedding music soon?