"See you at the arena?"
"Yep." You accepted your boyfriend's kiss, and then watched him walk out of your shared hotel room, luggage trailing behind him.
Returning to your own packing, you glanced out the window trying to determine if you needed any type of jacket over your dress or not. Deciding to take the risk, you packed away all your items, and after confirming nothing was getting forgotten, left the room. You headed down to the lobby, where Charlotte was sitting in a chair, scrolling on her phone, her own luggage around her.
"Hey chica," you greeted her, gaining her attention.
"Hello my love! Ready?"
"Let's go," you confirmed, as she stood up and got her things organized to leave.
"Seth already leave?"
"He did. Few minutes ago."
"Ya know, I could always just third wheel it? Makes it easier."
"That's OK," you assured her. "We do the long drives together, and house shows, and that's good enough. But rolling up to the arena together on TV nights creates a certain…chaos. And I don't like it."
"How long are you gonna go on like this?" Charlotte inquired as you two made your way into the attached parking garage.
"Haven't decided," you answered. "Seth and I agree it's easiest for now."
"Hey, your relationship," she conceded as you reached the rental car. "I just know, you can't hide forever." You didn't respond as you put your luggage into the trunk.
It wasn't that you were hiding your relationship entirely with Seth. Your friends, family, and coworkers all knew you two were together, had been for many months. It was just the public that you were trying your hardest to keep from knowing everything. Fans could be downright vicious, for starters. And overall, you weren't a very 'share my personal life on social media' kind of person. Pictures with friends and fellow wrestlers were one thing, but you weren't plastering every picture of you and Seth on Instagram.
Of course, you knew that many of the public had their suspicions. While Dean and Renee had 'car pool buddies' down to a science, Seth and you were better described as 'work out buddies'. You hated Crossfit to be totally honest, but any time with Seth was time you wanted to have.
On the professional side, there had been multiple offers made to you to be on Total Divas, but you declined every time. You made your cameos, tagging along with the main girls on adventures and trips, but you were not going to become a storyline or centerpiece if you could help it.
Alone time with Seth was safe, comforting, calming. You never wanted that to change.
The car ride to the arena went smoothly, talking with Charlotte about movies and having loud car singalongs. Once you arrived, you went over to greet various fans waiting along the fence line, signing autographs and taking selfies. It was only when a backstage hand came over to tell you that you needed to head in that you left them.
After dumping your items in the locker room, you made your way to catering, finding Seth already there. You grabbed some food before sitting down beside him at the table that also included Xavier, Sasha, and Bayley.
"So, what's on the agenda for tonight?" Xavier asked Seth, before taking a bite of chicken.
"Building up some stuff with Trips," he answered, putting his arm around the back of your chair.
"Should you be doin' that?" Sasha inquired, tilting her head slightly. Bless Sasha, you thought. You wanted to ask the same but didn't want to appear nagging.
"Yea, it's fine. All cleared from the doc to do what I gotta tonight. No full match, but I can take a few bumps," Seth explained. The information only calmed your nerves a bit.
"You're against Nia tonight, right?" Bayley asked her gaze on you.
"I am," you confirmed. "Should be fun to get my ass handed to me." There was a giggle amongst the girls at your words. Nia was a formidable force in the ring, with so much potential to be more. You genuinely enjoyed working with her, helping her grow as a performer.
After finishing your meal, everyone went their separate ways to get ready for the night. Seth made sure to kiss you thoroughly before sending you on your way, the blush evident on your cheeks all the way to the locker room.
The RAW show progressed as planned. Matches went off flawlessly. Your match with Nia resulted in her being disqualified, and then promptly putting a beat down on you. You were OK with being her punching bag, helping to establish her dominance.
After cleaning up, and changing back into your street clothes, you found yourself in gorilla, planning to watch Seth's segment. You were also wearing one of Seth's hoodies zipped up but it was still very baggy on your frame.
There was no way you could stop the stupid grin from coming to your face when his music hit and he walked out onto the ramp, stopping the assault on Mick. Though he had one crutch under his arm and a knee brace on, you knew he was going to be OK. It had been a scare when his knee had been hurt again, but a major upset had been avoided with this injury. It was workable.
Everyone in the area was focused on the monitors, no one paying you any mind. This was the closing part of RAW, and it had been built up so wonderfully.
Though as Seth made his way into the ring, you couldn't help but bit your lip and curl your fingers over the sleeves of the hoodie. Watching him attack Triple H made your stomach a bit tight, to be honest. You knew this had been all okayed and cleared, but accidents were always possible to happen. An accidental injury had gotten Seth into his current state in the first place.
There was no stopping the giggle that escaped you when Seth knocked Hunter off the ring, and promptly put his arms and tongue out, solidifying himself in the center of the ring.
It took under a minute for Hunter to return to the ring, and an all-out brawl ensued. You noted how stiff the hits seemed.
At the direct strike of the crutch to Seth's leg, you were on your feet from the folding chair, attention focused solely on the men on the screen.
When Triple H put Seth in a leg lock, wrenching back on his knee, you had decided it was enough. Knowing Seth as well as you did, you could tell that the pure agony on his face wasn't entirely being faked. This whole thing was feeling less planned, and more off-script than you were comfortable with at this point. Your gut was rarely wrong.
"Excuse me, I have to go make a scene," you declared, giving no one any time to stop you, as you tore off through gorilla and the curtain. You barely registered the crowd's reaction as you finally came out, hitting the ramp, continuing down it to the ring. If you had heard them, you would have noticed the confusion that came along with the loud cheer.
You smoothly slid into the ring, the uncertainty, and surprise clear as day on Triple H's face. Stephanie immediately made her way onto the ring steps but stayed outside the ropes. Hunter was frozen, no longer pulling on Seth's leg, but also not letting him go. Looking around quickly, you snatched the bent crutch from the mat. It was only then that Hunter let go of Seth, getting to his feet, taking a step back.
"GET OUT!" you shouted, tightening your hands on the crutch, fully prepared to swing it if necessary.
"What the hell are you doing?" His words were practically growled, but you could hear the genuine confusion in them.
"Too, far," you replied. Hunter seemed to take stock of the situation, looking you up and down, before making his decision. He walked along the ropes, still facing you until he made his way to where Stephanie also was. He stepped through the ropes, hoping down onto the ground, his wife immediately at his side. It was only then that you dropped the crutch.
"Give me a mic!" you shouted at the crew around the ring, holding your hand out expectantly. A man in a black shirt scrambled before thrusting one into your hand. You tapped on the top until a sound came that indicated it was on.
"Listen up Trips! We both know you don't fight fair, clearly. And we both know your bitch wife will be with you on Sunday," you snarled into the mic, leaning on the ropes, facing Hunter and Stephanie as they stood at the base of the ramp. Stephanie's scowl deepened at your words. "But that's OK. Because on Sunday, this game, the teams, it will all be equal. Because Seth, Seth is gonna have his bitch girlfriend with him."
You paused.
"And that bitch is me."
This time you did hear the crowd's reaction. It was overwhelmingly loud, maybe the loudest you'd ever been out in the ring for. And based off of it, you felt confident you were the favorites for Sunday.
Dropping the mic with a wrist flick, you maintained the stare-down with Triple H as he slowly stepped backward up the ramp, taking Stephanie with him. You knew he was trying to remain intimidating, despite the fact he was the one retreating. When Seth's music finally hit, you broke the glaring contest, turning back towards the ring. Seth was surrounded by referees, finally in a sitting position at least.
You immediately went to your knees beside him, brushing his hair back from his face.
"Shit, that went a lot further than we talked about," Seth grumbled to you, the pain clear on his face as he clutched at his knee.
"I kind of figured that," you replied. "C'mon, let's get you to the trainer." With the help of the referees, Seth was able to get to his feet, using one of them as a support. His crutch was destroyed, so you knew he was going to have to rely on people to get backstage.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Seth demanded as you put his arm around your shoulders, ready to leave the ring.
"That I really love you," you replied. "And there's no one else I'd rather get in trouble with than you."
"Well, that's good to know. Because we're in for a whole lot of it."
"Awesome. Bring it on."