Author's Note: Heard on Stone Cold's podcast that Alexa and Becky were traveling together now, so naturally I had to write something. A story out of kayfabe. Hope you like!

Talk to Me

It was hot, the air conditioner was broken, and Alexa was blasting Disney soundtracks at an unreasonable volume. Becky would've called this hell, but at least Satan wouldn't ruin her eardrums with music tailored to children. The switch from traveling with Charlotte to traveling with Alexa was, at first, quite jarring. While Charlotte preferred to drive with the windows up, Alexa preferred to roll them all the way down, allowing the sound of car horns and the occasional smell of cigarettes to bombard her senses. While Charlotte preferred to have long chats, Alexa was fine with turning the radio to its maximum volume and tuning out the rest of the world. The differences were many, though the Irish woman had gotten used to them by now. Well, accepted them, at any rate.

It wasn't as if the two women had never spent time together before - they were good friends, after all - but this felt like a major change. Before a few weeks ago, their friendship was contained within house shows and empty lockeroom shenanigans. Now, as they spent more and more time on the road together, rental cars acted as a surrogate home of sorts. They went from being friends to living together in the span of a few months, and it was a drastic change.

She also fancied Alexa, which made the whole 'living together' thing incredibly awkward.

Unable to take the sound of the radio anymore, Becky jammed a finger into the 'off' button, causing Alexa to shift her gaze, momentarily losing focus of the road.

"Hey, I was listening to that."

"Christ, Alexa. I can only listen to Shang telling me to be a man so many times. He doesn't understand that I'm a woman."

"Maybe you're just unsuited for the rage of war."

"Okay, enough. Can't we just talk or something? Before my ears explode."

Alexa chucked, but Becky was deadly serious, her expression remaining stone-faced, even as Alexa went to turn the radio back on. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the look on Becky's face, slowly retracting her finger before anything happened to it. Alexa looked ahead and, noting the heavy traffic, felt that her friend might be on to something.

"Yeah, doesn't seem like we'll be going anywhere."

"Great! So…"

It was a small victory for Becky to actually get Alexa to speak to her - the music always won out in the end - but now that she'd won the battle, she had no idea how to continue. She really was unsuited for the rage of war. Becky shook her head, Disney poisoning her mind one lyric at a time. She enjoyed her fair share of comfortable silences every now and then, but she wasn't sure why talking with Alexa didn't come as naturally as talking with Charlotte. It might've had something to do, Becky figured, with the way that Alexa was staring at her, perfectly round eyes beautifully blinking in her direction. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that Alexa's voice was always so sugary sweet, her ears tingling whenever the blonde addressed her.

"I went to clown college."

It was possibly the worst segue that Becky had ever committed to - why on earth didn't she think before opening her mouth? - but her well of conversation starters had run dry many moons ago. Evidently, Alexa was unfazed by Becky's declaration of clowning, not a gasp or a 'Wow!' to be heard.

"I'm not sure why you're giving me that look," Alexa stated upon seeing the raised eyebrow cast at her from Becky. "The fact that you expect me to be surprised about this is honestly the more surprising thing."

Becky bashfully scratched the back of her own head, fully aware of how she came across on a regular, everyday basis. Still, she was usually met with a barrage of questions regarding it - it's clown college! She huffed in disappointment and almost dropped the conversation entirely when Alexa, at last, tossed a question at her.

"What was that like? Juggling all day, practicing knock-knock jokes, I bet. That's definitely your kind of place."

Fortunately for Becky, the question tossed at her was easy to answer. She had to wonder if Alexa was humoring her, for the sake of avoiding the melting of Becky's brain to horribly cheesy music, or if she was genuinely curious. Far be it from the Irish woman to let someone's curiosity go unsatisfied.

"Actually, it was a pretty emotional experience."

"We're still talking about the clown thing, right?"

Becky waved away Alexa's comment. "Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I don't know. Once you're wearing the clown make-up and the little red nose, it's like you become vulnerable. It helped me get in tune with my emotions - helped me become a better actor, for sure."

Alexa applied a light pressure to the gas pedal, traffic inching its way forward at a snail's pace. She didn't care, however, now fully engrossed in Becky's college tale. Becky could see the shift in her friend's attitude, her eyes - eyes that Becky should really stop looking at for her own health - flickering with a newfound glow.

"Hold on," Alexa stated. "Isn't your character just... you?"

"Well yeah, but say someone - maybe little miss Bliss - comes out and says something like, 'Oh, Becky Lynch is a loser!' No problem - just throw on my sad face. See?"

Becky threw on her best expression of sadness, the sides of her mouth curving downwards to ridiculous lengths. Alexa laughed so hard that she nearly slammed the gas, the split second jerk of the vehicle causing both women to freak out.

"Alright alright," Alexa started between laughing fits. "No more clowning around."

"Good one."

"You've got great stories."

"I'm sure you have some riveting stories of your own beneath that Harley Quinn haircut of yours, Lexi."

Becky gently tugged at one of Alexa's pigtails, the blonde apparently too deep in thought to give the action any attention. Becky was excited at the prospect of bonding with Alexa. While the two were friends, it wasn't often that they spoke about the past, or the future really. It was all about the here-and-now, about what spots they'd be doing for an upcoming match, or what greasy fast food place they'd be stopping at for a quick dinner. Aside from the most minor of details, she knew little of Alexa's childhood, or anything between that and her current life.

"Oh! Did you know that I used to be a cheerleader?" Alexa said this with so much glee that Becky thought she'd pop a vessel from smiling so wide.

"I mean, no. But when you come to shows lugging around these giant frilly things, I sorta figured. Two and two and all."

Becky felt a bit guilty, thinking that she might've ruined Alexa's story before it even began. However, Alexa kept on, her comments lost to the wind. "Cheerleading was amazing. I competed in a ton of events."

"Whoa, sounds serious."

"It was - Division 1 is no joke. I know some people that think, 'It's only cheerleading, whatever.' I needed to be in top shape, had to work out and practice every day."

"Aw, to heck with 'em. They probably wouldn't last a minute in your shoes, doing any of that fancy footwork."

The orange-haired woman noticed the subtle traces of a blush on Alexa's face, the compliment doing its work. This was good, Becky said to herself. She was finally starting to learn more about Alexa. Like she said, it was easy to picture Alexa as the stereotypical cheerleader, but taking part in intense competitions was something complete different. The amount of athleticism required for that would be tremendous. Needless to say, her respect for her travel buddy had significantly increased.

"Thanks, Becks. I think the best thing was going out of state - seeing all these different places. It made me love traveling. That's why I don't mind these long car rides."

"Especially 'cause you listen to music at unholy volumes."

"That too. I'm glad you don't mind." Alexa stuck her tongue out at Becky, who simply returned the favor. "Man, I really wish I didn't miss the competitions in Florida. Would've made my time in NXT a lot easier if I knew any street names."

"Came down with the flu while your team was soaking up sunshine, eh?"

Becky hadn't noticed right away, laughing at her own sense of humor, but she could see that Alexa was visibly tensing. Her fingers clenched the steering wheel, her arms stiff as a board. Did she say something wrong? She didn't really think Alexa had the flu.

"Erm, you okay?"

Alexa sighed, contemplating something. What that something was, Becky was unsure of, but it certainly seemed like she was struggling to speak. Before she could try to change the topic, Alexa cut her off.

"I'm fine. It's just, well, that wasn't exactly a high point in my life."

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

Truth be told, Becky almost didn't want to ask, the subject in question obviously a very touchy one for the younger woman. Although, she did say that she wanted to learn more about Alexa - if she was willing, of course. Becky wasn't going to push the matter if it wasn't something to be shared.

"I don't mind. It's nice that you care enough to ask. It's just something I don't tell people often. You're my friend, and we did agree to talk, so-"

"If it's too personal, we can drop it. You really don't have to."

"No, I want to. I think it'd be better to talk about it." Becky waited with bated breath, Alexa taking a deep breath of her own. "It was at the height of the season. I remember walking into school one day, and this guy kept saying that I looked different. I was already incredibly insecure, so I took it as stupid guys being stupid."

It was hard for Becky to even fathom a woman with Alexa's gorgeous figure being insecure in any way, but she knew from firsthand experience that it didn't matter what someone looked like, or what their life was like. Anyone could have issues with their self-image, and Alexa was no different.

"But then the next day, it was more than the guys. Everyone kept saying how thin I looked. Even my cheer team. I didn't see it, but I guess they did. I lost thirty pounds in the span of a week, and it wasn't until my parents had to drive me to the hospital when I found out that I was anorexic. If I'd waited any longer, they said I would've died."

Becky tried her hardest to form any kind of coherent speech, but she didn't know what to say. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Alexa would've went through something so traumatizing. If vehicular safety laws weren't in place, Becky definitely would've hugged her so, so tight right now. She settled for the next best thing - placing a hand on Alexa's shoulder, gently caressing the smooth skin with her palm.

"I'm sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must've been."

"It was rough, but I pushed myself to get better. I took up bodybuilding and gained all my weight back. I'm sure the whole thing's in a magazine article somewhere."

Before Alexa could continue, she blinked away stray tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "Sorry," she stated, doing her best to wave at her face in an attempt to dry the tears out. "This is weird, I'm sure."

"On the contrary, that's a pretty inspiring story - one I'm sure that tons of people will look up to you for."

Alexa took hold of Becky's hand - the one that had yet to cease running its fingers along her bare shoulder - and brought it down to her side. She continued to hold it, even after offering Becky a heartfelt 'Thank you.' For the next few minutes, the two sat together in silence, enjoying this air of closeness between them, their fingers still intertwined. Becky was the one to break the silence.

"I suppose I should share something else to match you."

"What about Clown U?"

"First off, it wasn't called 'Clown U,' ya dork. Second, that doesn't count. It wasn't as heavy as yours."

"Well when you put it like that, it is only fair."

Becky smirked, glad to know that Alexa was just as interested in her life as she was about Alexa's. This was information she didn't divulge easily - only her immediate family and Finn were made aware of this part of her life. Yet, she didn't feel as much apprehension as she probably should. Alexa was a big part of her life now, and if they were going to keep their friendship growing, then it was important to break down their barriers. If Alexa was brave enough to do it, then Becky would try to replicate that bravery and open up as well.

"I used to, you know, dabble in drug related paraphernalia. Some of the bad stuff."

"Wow. I, uh... That's pretty to the point."

"Gotta rip the bandage off, right?"

Alexa nodded, though it was obvious to Becky that she was reeling from the information, or rather how blunt she was with it. The spotlight was hers now, and she intended to make use of it.

"It was dumb. I was only fifteen, but I tried everything - drugs, alcohol, whatever - because I was dumb. Just didn't feel like my head was on right. Then this guy, 'Fergal Devitt,' opens up a wrestling school. I'd been a wrestling fan for a while, so I thought, 'Why not?' And Fergal, he was just the best, lemme tell ya. Got me on the straight and narrow - kept me out of a dark place. I gave up all of that other stuff to focus on wrestling, and the rest is history, as they say. 'They' including me. Right now."

Becky left out some details - mainly concerning how godawful training actually was when you're fifteen and think you know it all - but she didn't want to overload Alexa. For now, this was enough. For now, she hoped that she was able to shed a touch of light on her past, as Alexa did for her.

"I'm kind of shocked. This Becky is the only Becky I know. I never would've guessed you were a rebel."

"I didn't go spray painting walls or anything! I just did a bunch of illegal things - very… very illegal things."

"Yeah, that's called 'being a rebel' where I'm from."

"Curse Ohio."

"I'm just happy that you found that wrestling school. I should probably thank Fergal for helping you become one of the greatest people I know."

Alexa's turn at compliments had roughly the same effect on Becky, whose grip around the blonde's hand tightened has the blood rushed to her face. "Ah, the flattery is killing me. But thank you. You're pretty great yourself."

With cars now slowly beginning speed up, traffic all but dissipating, Alexa removed her hand from Becky's, much to the dismay of the latter. However, her dismay wouldn't last for very long.

"I like this."

"Like what?"

"Talking to you. We should do this more, set aside time for it."

"Lexi," Becky stated, chuckling at Alexa's random recommendation. "We can talk whenever. I don't think it's really necessary to set aside a specific day for moving our lips or anything."

"Maybe, but I was thinking that next time it could be over dinner? Share some more, preferably over non-greasy, restaurant-esque food?"

"L-Like a date?" Becky gulped loudly, a little too loudly for her liking, afraid that she was misinterpreting Alexa's suggestion. She prayed that she wasn't.

"Not like a date. A date."

Her heart settling down - having just been saved from a possible shattering - Becky heaved a sigh of relief. "That sounds wonderful."

"It does, doesn't it?"

"Honestly, it'll be so much fun. You'll get to hear about my humble beginnings, before the lass-kicking days! I'll tell you everything - from Ireland to Mexico to-"

The Irish woman stopped herself when it was clear that Alexa wasn't listening, undivided attention given to the road in front of them. Instead of giving up, however, Becky prepared herself to be bold for the second time during this trip. At the first red light they came across, Becky leaned over and - placing a finger on Alexa's chin - planted a kiss on the luscious lips of her friend, allowing her own lips to linger for a few extra seconds. A look of longing was left on Alexa's face, Becky laughing heartily.

"I think I talk too much."

End