Author's Note: A few quick things before you read! 1) Normally, I'm awful at keeping up with multi-chapter fics. To combat that, I've written everything already! It's not terribly long, a few chapters, but expect one or two uploads a week (aiming for Monday and Thursday) over the next couple of weeks :D 2) This is AU (basically, a story where they are average people, and not wrestlers), but I left things such as location purposely vague to leave a little to the imagination. 3) I love you.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

Take My Hand, Chapter 1 - Ten Ninety-Five

Three years. That was how long Becky and Sasha had been dating, almost to the day. That time was filled with unforgettable memories - memories that would be cherished for the rest of their lives. Their three year anniversary was steadily approaching, and Sasha knew that she had to do something monumental for Becky, even if the latter claimed she didn't want 'anything extravagant' done on her behalf. Of course, Sasha wasn't going to listen; this was a celebration of their love for each other. If anything, this needed to be more than extravagant. She also knew that Becky wanted this too, no matter what she said.

If it were up to her, she would buy Becky the world, but seeing how that was physically - and more importantly financially - impossible, Sasha decided that another gift would work just as well. Still, it was difficult to shop for Becky, not because Sasha wasn't aware of her interests, but because this needed to be special. A joke book wasn't going to cut it this time around. Rather than spend weeks wracking her brain over gift-hunting, she enlisted the help of Bayley: shopper extraordinaire. Sasha was certain that Bayley's assistance on this lovely Friday afternoon would speed the process along tenfold.

"Oh! What about this joke book?"

So she thought, anyway. It turns out that Bayley wasn't exactly the most helpful person in times of crisis. At any rate, it was entertaining to have someone else to talk to while she did her shopping. Even if that other person also had no idea what to buy for Becky.

"She's already got three of those. If I have to hear, 'Bananas are a-peeling' one more time, I'll leave her."

Bayley shrugged, putting the colorful book back on the rack she obtained it from. She circled around the aisles, looking for anything that stood out. The small store wasn't necessarily spacious by any means, but out of all the stores in the mall, this one caught their attention; the inflatable tube-men waving about wildly by the front door spoke to Bayley's soul. If there was anything in the world that Becky would want, it would have to be in here.

Right? Right.

"Sasha, look at this!" Sasha followed the sound of Bayley's voice, pausing her own search to find her friend.

She wished that she hadn't.

"Bayley. What is that?"

The cheery woman was standing next to a large stuffed rabbit, the animal towering over Bayley's tiny frame. The shadow was enough to block out the sun, Sasha mused.

"It's a rabbit! Becky loves these!" She gave the stuffed animal a tight squeeze, wrapping as much of her arms around it as she could.

"No. No way. That wouldn't even fit through our door."

"Oh. Hmm."

"What?"

"Maybe I should buy it."

Sasha sighed, wondering what she evils she had committed in a past life to deserve this. "Bayles, you should probably leave that for the six-foot babies that need it."

Reluctantly, Bayley pulled away from the large rabbit, but not before whispering a long goodbye in its (stuffed) ear. She noticed Sasha making her way towards the exit, motioning for her to hurry up. Jogging over to her friend, Bayley couldn't hide her immediate confusion. "What's wrong? Aren't we buying a gift for Becky?"

"There's nothing here for her! It's just a bunch of silly toys."

After leaving the small shop, the duo made their way through the mall, zigging and zagging between crazed shoppers. Sasha groaned in irritation as a young girl ran by her, bumping her arm, and nearly knocking her over. It was hard for Sasha to hold her tongue, but yelling at a child, surrounded by dozens and dozens of people, wasn't going to make their trek easier. As the crowd grew thicker, Sasha held Bayley's hand, hoping that one of them wouldn't end up lost in the ensuing madness.

A few minutes later, Sasha felt her body jerk backwards, Bayley's own body coming to a halt. With the crowd around them now thinning out, Sasha was able to freely walk over to Bayley, studying her face to see why she had stopped so suddenly. When she followed her gaze, she was surprised by what had caught Bayley's attention.

"A jewelry store?"

After taking a look through the window pane, Sasha could see what the big deal was. Rows of glittering objects adorned the area behind the glass, creating a enchanting, almost hypnotic, light. Rings, necklaces, bracelets - adorned with many an exotic stone - shined ever-so-brightly. It was a wonder how everyone in the mall wasn't following suit and staring at this display.

"Let's go in!"

Bayley's declaration shook Sasha out of her trance, her mind now focused on Bayley. It took a second for the words to fully process in her mind, and by the time they had, she was already being dragged by the arm into the fancy store.

"Ooh, everything looks so nice here."

"Yeah, sure. Why are we here again? We're supposed to be shopping for Becks, remember?"

Bayley put a lone finger to Sasha's lips, signaling for her to stop talking. "Shh. We've been shopping for an hour. We can take a break to enjoy the sights, right?" She felt Sasha's lips move beneath her finger as the self-professed 'Boss' mumbled something incoherent. "What was that?"

"I said that if you don't get your finger off of me, I'm going to bite it off." She took hold of Bayley's wrist, tossing her hand aside and away from her face.

It wasn't very long before Sasha left Bayley to her own devices. For someone with no significant other to speak of, Bayely was far too interested in what this store had to offer, Sasha noticed. It wasn't like she needed a significant other to buy jewelry, but this store in particular seemed to pride themselves on 'couple-wear', as the numerous banners hanging from the ceiling proclaimed. Even from where she was standing - ten feet away from the entrance; she had no reason to browse - she could hear the occasional "Ooh!" and "Ah!" from Bayley.

"Sasha, you have to see this!"

Against her better judgment, Sasha followed the sound of Bayley's voice. This was all too familiar, she thought. "If this is another giant stuffed animal, I swear…"

"No, it's even better!" As Sasha walked up to the counter where Bayley was standing, she pointed to what she was looking at so intently. "Check it out!"

"What am I looking at here?"

"It's a ring!"

Sasha wanted to retort with an "Obviously!", but promptly closed her mouth as she began to stare at the ring just as intently as Bayley was. The design itself was impressive on its own, but the jewel embedded into the center - a large diamond - was what really called out to the two. It was something that would make any woman, maybe even any man, swoon. The sheer size of the jewel, the beautiful design, the sterling silver ring itself: it was a marvel to behold.

"It's gorgeous."

"Right?"

Sasha turned to Bayley, pulling her away from the glass chamber that the ring sat in. "Bayley. Becky shopping. Not ring shopping." She deliberately enunciated each syllable, emphasizing the fact that this was not what they came to the mall for.

"This could be Becky shopping."

Sasha felt her blood run cold.

"Uh, hello? What are you talking about?"

Bayley rolled her eyes, Sasha's dramatic reaction being one that she expected. "You and Becky have been together for three years now, right?"

"So what?"

"So… that's prime marrying time, sister!"

Sasha couldn't believe the words she was hearing right now. All she wanted to do was buy Becky a gift for their anniversary. Now she was in a jewelry store talking about marriage with Bayely. How did this happen? Why did this happen?

"Are you insane?"

"Dude, it's been a long time. Three whole years! And you've been best friends even longer than that! Don't you think it's time to take it to the next level?"

"So that's a 'yes,' then."

"Huh?"

"You ARE insane!"

Bayley would swear to anyone that this wasn't premeditated, but being in this store - surrounded by couple's paraphernalia, the feeling of pure love in the very air that they were breathing - it all just came to her. And how could it not? Sasha and Becky had been dating for three years. They ate together, spent their weekends together; as of six months ago, they were even living together. If Sasha announced that she would start working with Becky this coming Monday, Bayley wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

"You two are practically married already."

"But we're not married!"

"The only thing that separates you from a married couple is a ring."

Sasha did not like this conversation. She didn't want to feel pressured into marriage; it was supposed to be a slow process, when it felt right. That's how it worked in every romance novel she'd ever read, and every romantic movie she and Becky had ever seen. People didn't just walk into jewelry stores, see expensive diamonds, and ponder the next step in their relationship.

Did they?

"This is so stupid," Sasha stated abruptly. "Becky's never mentioned anything about marriage before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why do you sound so shocked?" When Bayley wouldn't reply, Sasha connected the dots. "Has she talked to you about wanting to get married?!"

Bayley raised her hands up defensively, wanting to spare her body from Sasha's wrath. "She and Charlotte sometimes have talks about wedding stuff. You know, marriage fantasies."

"Do you participate in these little little 'talks'?"

"…Maybe."

Sasha looked at Bayley, who looked away, and then looked back to the ring, the shimmering gemstone waiting patiently for someone to purchase it. She sucked her teeth, annoyed that she was giving this actual thought. "Why should I have to propose? Why not her?"

"Yeah, Becky proposing. Great idea." Becky put on her best impression of their Irish friend before continuing. "'Sasha, you ring my bell! Might I propose an idea to you'?"

"Okay, I get it."

"'-We could have a marry life together!' See what I did there? You know, 'merry' and 'marry'?"

"Hilarious, Bayles."

Amidst Bayley's shenanigans, the pair of women failed to notice that a man had taken post behind the counter. "Excuse me, ladies. Are you interested in one of our rings?"

A deer in headlights was the only way to describe the exact expression on Sasha's face. She didn't know what to say. Time was at a standstill as she pondered on how to proceed from here. Was this what she wanted? Sure, three years is a long stretch of time to be with someone, but marriage? Were they even ready for such a commitment?

"Ma'am?" The jeweler decided to make his presence known. "Anything I can help you with?

She turned to Bayley, silently praying that her friend would have some sort of answer. Instead, she received an enthusiastic thumbs up, her feelings on the matter clear as day. Sasha bit her bottom lip, the words on the tip of her tongue.

"How much is this one?"