Chapter 16

The shrill sound of the alarm clock made Damian groan. He didn't want to get up and leave this bed where he was so comfortably installed with Mina in his arms. She had fell asleep with her head on his torso and he was angry to have to make her move to switch off that damn alarm clock. After their conversation and the passionate kisses they had shared, they went to bed and snuggled until they fell asleep. He heard her moan against him and grabbing his back to bring him back against her.

- "Wake up, Princess" he softly said, brushing his lips on her cheek. "It's time to get up or we will be late." He could not help but find her beautiful at this moment, with her appeased face, the slight smile that was crossing her face and her hair wildly covering her body.

- "'Morning Handsome" she lazily said while opening her eyes.

She teasingly kissed him before getting out of the bed, her long hair tangled and her oversized T-shirt letting see her tattooed shoulder. Damian found her absolutely desirable but knew he couldn't touch her for the moment. In his mind this shared love was way too new and fragile to take the risk to break it with his dirty thoughts.

- "Did you sleep well?" He asked to hide his desire.

- "Amazingly! You are a formidable pillow!" She answered with a laugh. That was true, she had the best night in years in his arms, feeling both protected and loved. "And you?"

- "Best sleep since forever" he smiled warmly while pulling her close to him. "I don't want to let you go".

- "Come on, Damian, I need a shower and if we are both late the others are going to gossip and ask questions" she said with a smile, breaking free and heading to the bathroom.

- "Maybe I can shower with you? It would save some time" He teased while gently rubbing her hand. His smile faded when he felt Mina getting tensed with his words and her eyes widening with anxiety. "Stupid dumbass!" He let go of her hand and raised both arms as a sign of resignation. "Or not. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable." He tried to correct.

- "Wh… What if we… What if we both shower in our own room? It will save more time" she answered hesitantly.

Damian mentally punched himself, knowing that when the tailor stuttered, it meaned that she was feeling unease or threatened.

- "You are right, Princess. Let's do this" he softly said. "I'll just try to not to cross Finn in the corridor, he made fun of me last time he saw me come out of your room" he pouted while grabbing his shoes and room key.

- "I… I think we should keep it a secret, you know, us. It's too early to tell the others and I would prefer to avoid gossips at work. Are you okay with that?" she asked with blushing cheeks. Finn never told her about this, but she was feeling terribly embarrassed at the moment.

- "Of course, Sweetheart, whatever you want or need. Plus, it will be fun to keep you my little secret." He chuckled, reassuring Mina before kissing her softly.


The days went smoothly on the roads, Mina was still training in the ring the morning and sewing in her workshop during the afternoon. She had made some progress in selling the hits and giving some, being trained by a whole locker room of superstar wrestlers. To her great surprise, she made more friends in the training room in two months than in one year sewing their briefs and outfits. One year already. She put her weights on the ground and went to look at herself in the mirror. The skinny, weak and terrified Mina was now a bad memory, in the mirror she saw a strong lady, able to fight and to stand for herself. Her slender arms and shoulders were now developed enough to make her waist look smaller and her lower body had grown strong enough for her to be able to give terrible kicks and have a curved silhouette which pleased her a lot. Sighing with satisfaction, she went back to Randy Orton, who decided to help her with the punches, arguing that her delicate sewing hands needed more strength. Terrifying at first sight he was actually surprisingly kind and fun, always happy to help or to prank people. Of course, there were always some obtuse people who would not appreciate Mina's ascension in WWE. She was now used to Liv's hissing when she was training and tried her best to avoid her in the changing rooms. Over time she had threatened her to ruin her life, to destroy her, to injure her and even to attack her friends, but Mina wasn't scared. She had been through Hell and came back thanks to her friends, she would not let herself be scared and impressed by Liv.

The weeks seemed to go way too fast for Damian, who was everyday looking forward to go to Mina's room to spend some alone time with her. They would usually talk about anything that comes to their minds or cuddle all night. He never tried to make a move towards her to have more intimacy. When they were on the bus, he would spend the trip on his phone, looking on the internet to get advice about how to behave with a traumatized woman. He wanted to be the best for her, be the man that would help her rise and stay by her side. To him, it started by making sure to help her overcome her trauma. Most of the websites and forums he had been surfing on were talking about giving time to the other one, waiting for her to be ready, the kind of things he had been able to figure out by himself. They managed to stay discreet about their relationship at work, which he didn't think was possible because of the amount of people working in the same area. He was sure they would have been caught by either Finn or Mina's assistant, who was so quiet that sometimes she seemed to appear like a ghost. Every day he would secretly go to Mina's workshop to have his content of hugs, cuddle and kisses. Mina was sometimes teasing him about how well he had hidden his cuddly side. The truth was that she was making him crave her contact, he was like addicted to her after beeing so torn appart between his desire and his fear of love.

One day, the two lovers were hidden behind a closed door, whispering sweet nothings and sharing hugs and kisses before the episode of RAW that was supposed to start a couple hours later. Damian was feeling a huge weight on his chest. He had heard about Liv's behaviour and was deeply concerned about Mina's safety and tried to exorcize his anxiety with hugs.

- "What's happening, Damian? You seem tensed" Mina asked as he was greedily embracing her and kissing her neck.

- "I'm anxious about tonight, Sweetheart" he honestly answered. "I'm scared Liv might try to hurt you for real. I love you so much I can't help but worry." He said.

- "Don't worry Handsome, nothing will happen to me" she tried to reassure him. She then put her hands behind his head and pulled her lover closer to her to capture his lips.

- "BUSTEEEEED" echoed a strong female voice, making both of them jump out of their skin. "How long have you been hiding that from us?"

Rhea then walked towards them, heavily laughing at her joke and at the genuine happiness she was feeling for her friends. Mina blushed heavily and looked at the ground to hide her embarrassment. Damian pinched his nose bridge with his fingers and tried to appear angry.

- "Rhea, really? It's not what you think!" he started.

- "Well, actually it is" Mina said bluntly. "No need to lie when we are caught red-handed." She chuckled.


The arena went pitch black and the introduction music of Monday Night RAW thundered, making the crowd erupt in cheers. The commentators started to introduce all the fights that would occur that night. They introduced Rhea's match with Nia Jax, wandering if The Witch would be present this time. The Witch was the nickname that was given to Mina by the commentators and the audience seemed to agree, booing her each time she appeared ringside. At the beginning she was scared, thinking that meant the public hated her but Hunter reassured her, saying that it meaned they acknowledged her as a heel character. She was getting ready in the locker room with Rhea as a segment was shown to the public. They booed in incomprehension seeing Liv Morgan meeting Nia Jax with a grin on her face. Liv then whispered something in Nia's ears before holding her a hand to shake. Nia hesitated for a couple seconds before shaking Liv's hand, sealing their secret agreement.

The matches went on as Mina got fully dressed, ready to appear ringside with Rhea. Her cloak was attached and her make-up was done. She knew she was supposed to take hits tonight and answer with kicks and punches. It was going to be the first time for her to make an appearance that would look like a fight and she was both anxious and thrilled. They had five more minutes before entering the arena. She felt Damian's arms around her shoulders, leaning against his chest she let go a sigh of happiness as he kissed her slightly in front on Finn and Dom's stunned eyes.

- "You guys are kissing now?!" Dom asked.

- "We are together" Damian answered calmly after looking at Mina for her approval.

- "Come on Witch, time to go kick some ass" Rhea interrupted. "Don't worry Priest, I will bring her back to you" she said with a wink.

The two women entered the arena as Rhea's music thundered, while the men sat on the couch of their club house to watch the match on TV in front of the cameras. Rhea climbed in the ring, showing her belt to the audience as Mina took place ringside, dramatically removing her hood and rolling her eyes white while chanting her spell. Nia Jax was already in the ring, waiting for the bell to ring to start the fight. Mina was slowly walking around the ring, staying at a reasonable distance from the fight and seeming to have an influence on Nia's abilities. Suddenly the crowd screamed in surprise, revealing Liv Morgan running to Mina with a chair. Not breaking character, she took and sold the punch she received but saw with horror the chair falling on her face again and again. Liv was restlessly attacking the Witch with a chair until seeing blood coming from her nose and mouth. She then grabbed Mina by her hair and send her face first through the turnbuckle. Trying to defend herself with her fists and feet, Mina screamed in pain, a real pain.

- "I told you I will destroy you, tailor." Liv said before hitting her harder and harder with her fists and the chair. "You should have learned your place."

Despite the surprise of this attack out of any storyline Nia and Rhea kept her match going, trying to divert the public's attention from Mina and Liv.

At the same time, in the Judgment Day's club house, Finn was trying his best to keep Damian to seat on the couch. The cameras were still there, and he needed to stay stoic, fortunately, JD came from behind the cameraman to tell him with a gesture to stop filming. Once the camera out of the room Damian rushed to the ring to help Mina. The chair hits were not in the script, Liv was just supposed to kick and punch her, and no blood should have been involved, which meaned that Liv had actually assaulted the dressmaker. When he ran into the arena, the security was already separating Liv from Mina whose face was covered in blood and bruises.

- "Don't worry Sweetheart, I'm here, I'll bring you to the medics" he said while carrying her in his arms.

- "Sweetheart?!" Liv screamed in anger "You bitch, needed to sleep with him to get the job huh?!"

Damian didn't answer, he just wanted to bring Mina to safety and get her checked by a doctor. He walked through the arena as calmly as he could, looking as neutral as possible to try not to disturb the script. Once away from the camera he ran towards the medical area.

Mina was receiving medical care and Damian was nervously pacing in the corridor. He heard Hunter yell at Liv for injuring another employee and breaking the script in front of the audience on a TV show. He expected that Hunter would fire her immediately but knew that he would just re-write the storyline to include what just happened and work around it. Finn and JD were trying to keep him calm while Dom had brought Rhea far enough to avoid any fight with Liv. The door finally opened, and a nurse explained them that Mina suffered a light concussion and a broken nose. The men stormed inside to go to see their friend, who was lying in a bed, a large plaster covering her nose and some topping covering several cuts she had on her forehead and cheekbones. Her bottom lip was swollen around a cut and bruises were formed around her nose, eye and lips.

- "I think I will have to skip work for a couple days guys" Mina chuckled.

- "Shhh Sweetheart, you have to get some rest before we go back to the hotel." Damian answered. "I need to go for a promo, I'll be back soon. Finn will stay with you" he said before kissing her head and getting out of the room.

He waited in front of Hunter's office, he still had time before his promo. He heard Liv asking for a match against Mina, refused by Hunter. Mina was not a wrestler; she was just a dress maker and a side character in the storylines, there was no way she was able to go through a complete match without being seriously injured. Damian saw the door open and liv storming out, visibly mad. She smiled and winked at him. He felt disgusted and entered Hunter's office to discuss the storyline, he was not supposed to act that way toward Mina and they had to adjust the script to justify his behavior. Hunter was not mad at him, understanding his concern for his friend. When Liv passed in front of the medical area, she saw that the door was opened, risking a look inside, she saw Finn holding Mina's hand and talking to her while Rhea was trying to remain calm. An idea crossed her mind, and she went back to the locker room with a wry smile on her lips.


A couple weeks after Raw, Mina went back to the training room. She had been cleared to sew a week after her injury but had to wait longer before being able to physically train again. Her friends and lover would often come to see her in her workshop to make sure she was alright, and that Liv was nowhere around her. Damian had been particularly protective, fearing to be unable to protect her again, he would be more demonstrative, not hesitating to kiss and hug her in front of their friends and the other wrestlers, to make sure everybody knew she was his lover and won't try to mess with her. That day, when she entered the training room, everyone welcomed her warmly, excepted Liv. The Judgment Day was still in the changing room, and she saw the blond wrestler coming towards her with a petty smile. Immediately Randy, Sami and Otis came closer to be able to stop Liv if she was to attack Mina again.

- "You didn't learn your lesson, tailor" she said.

- "The only thing I learned is that a chair wins against a nose" Mina calmly answered, seeing her friends coming out of the changing rooms.

- "Now you should learn to fear me, bitch. Next time I take everything from you" Liv spat out before leaning close to Mina's ear to whisper something.

Mina's eyes grew wide and a fire started to burn between her lungs, radiating through her entire upper body. She clenched her fists and started her training, doing each movement with violence, never stopping moving. When Rhea asked her what was wrong, she refused to tell, just saying she was angry. Damian and Finn looked at each other in disbelief, they had never saw Mina being angry; she always said that anger was a bad thing to feel and only brought bad things. She always managed to stay calm and reasonable even when she had to be more assertive. Damian was worried, if Mina was mad to the point of needing to hit hard on the punching ball, it meaned that the problem was more than serious. He carefully walked towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

- "One more set and I give it to you, Love" she said without stopping hitting.

- "It would be easier if I hold it for you, Sweetheart. May I?" He asked as softly as possible.

- "Sure, go on. I need to hit harder." Mina answered.

- "What did she tell you to make you angry like this? Is it my fault? Please, talk to me Sweetheart" he almost pleaded.

- "I don't want to talk about it, it's between Liv and me. I'm not mad at you Love; I promise. There is something I want to ask you: Can you help me improve? Next time, I don't want her to have the time to hit me."

- "It's not a UFC match Rapunzel." Finn stepped in. "Don't lower yourself to her level."

- "So, what should I do? Let her break my face whenever she feels like it?" She almost yelled.

Mina went back to hitting with Damian trying to give her advice to avoid hurting herself and hitting more effectively. Finn went back to his own training, watching the lovers from afar. He was deadlifting when Liv came next to him and put her foot on the barbell to get his attention.

- "What do you want Liv?" he hissed.

- "Oh, come on Finn, I see how you look at her. What about a deal? I get Damian back, you get your little tailor, how does this sound?" she asked.

- "I don't know what you are talking about" he said.

- "Of course you do, come and meet me after training. I'll be waiting for you" she told him before blowing a kiss to him while walking away.

Finn looked one more time at Damian and Mina. She had finally calmed down a bit and was performing some push ups as Damian was doing some bicep curls, still lovingly looking at her. It was easy to say how much he loved her; he was living again thanks to her, and she was awakening all his good sides with her kindness and courage. He had to admit that he wondered how it was possible to not to fall under her charm. He sighed deeply, yes, he had feelings for her; but the choice was hers and she chose Damian. The only thing he could do was hoping the two of them were as happy as possible and beeing the frien they could always rely on. He felt his heart tighten when mina tiptoed to kiss Damian.