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Lyra twisted her hands nervously as she sat on the bed in the hotel room she had bribed her way into. It had actually been pretty easy to get herself into the room, the poor kid on Reception was clearly on minimum wage and had jumped at the chance to make a bit more money. She glanced up at the clock, noticing how late it was and shaking her head. This was insane, Tatum would be out celebrating with her new friends, god knows when she would be back. What was Lyra thinking sneaking into Tatum’s hotel room and waiting for her? That was stalker actions, these were the actions that Tatum would have taken when Lyra was champion.
Despite her nerves the Raw superstar couldn’t help a little laugh coming out of her, the tables had certainly turned. Now she was the one effectively stalking the NXT Women’s Champion, but she needed to talk to Tatum, she needed to congratulate her. Not some post on Social Media, not some hurried congratulations while Izzi stared daggers into her. No, Lyra wanted to properly congratulate Tatum, the girl who had managed to worm her way into Lyra’s life, into Lyra’s head, into Lyra’s heart.
Her head shot up as she heard the beep of a keycard unlocking the door.
“That’s weird, I don’t remember leaving my lights on.” She heard Tatum’s voice say as the door opened and Lyra’s heart broke a little because Tatum sounded so tired. Then Tatum was through the door and staring in shock at Lyra. The new champion was dressed much more comfortably from when she had been in the ring, leggings and NXT hoodie, she had her new title over her shoulder and a heavy looking bag clasped in her hand.
“Hey.” Lyra said awkwardly, raising a hand in greeting as she stood up.
“Sweet Dove!!!” Tatum screamed out, dropping both her bag and title and bounding over to where Lyra was, pulling her into a huge hug. A hug that Lyra returned eagerly, squeezing Tatum tight. “How…How did you get here?” Tatum asked after she finally broke the hug and Lyra felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment.
“Well, I…might have flown in earlier today. I didn’t want to distract you from your preparations which is why I didn’t message you. I wanted to surprise you though.” Lyra explained, smiling at Tatum.
“Oh Lyra, this is just so perfect! I would have loved to have had you out there with me though.” Tatum said and Lyra felt her insides curl up a bit.
“Yeah…well…you just seemed so happy with Izzi and the rest of the The Culling. I didn’t want to be in the way.” She mumbled out, hating herself for feeling like this. Tatum, though, didn’t seem to notice.
“Nonsense my love, I’ll always want you there. We’ve always been connected, I mean look! We both won our titles at Halloween Havoc, it’s fate!” Tatum burst out and Lyra forced a smile onto her face. She was glad that Tatum was happy but she was worried, she didn’t trust The Culling and she certainly didn’t trust Izzi Dame. The whole vibe from the group gave off serious cult vibes and Lyra was always worried that Izzi was just using Tatum.
As much as it burned her though, Izzi had spoken some truth earlier when she had said that Lyra had abandoned Tatum, she had. She had been seduced by the bright lights of the Raw, the bright lights of a main roster Championship. Somewhere along the way she had lost sight of what mattered, of who mattered. That was why she had gone back to NXT these past few weeks, not just to try and understand what made strange people like Tatum and Bayley worked but also because she wanted to see Tatum again. Like she had said, Tatum was consistently weird and she missed that. She missed Tatum.
“Hey, Sweet Dove, what’s wrong?” Tatum asked, evidently noticing the fake smile on her face.
“It’s nothing Tatum, I’m happy for you. You deserve this, you are going to make a fantastic champion.” Lyra said quickly, looking directly into Tatum’s eyes and finding herself getting lost in the soft brown orbs.
“Do you mean it? I just…it’s so much pressure, do you really think I can do it?” Tatum asked, her voice wobbling a little as the young woman seemed to finally be voicing fears she obviously hadn’t voiced before. Lyra reached out and took hold of Tatum’s hand, pressing a soft kiss onto it.
“Yes, I’m sure Tatum. I know you, you have everything you need to be one of the best champions we’ve ever had. I believe in you, more than I have before. I’m just sorry it’s taken me so long to realise just how amazing you are.” Lyra blurted out, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment at how much she was saying.
“You’re probably tired out, I should go.” She said quickly, dropping Tatum’s hand and moving past her, heading towards the door.
“Lyra!” She heard Tatum call out and she stopped, even though her brain was telling her to get out of the room, to get out of the temptation she could feel creeping over her. She felt Tatum reach out and take hold of her hand, and felt the jolt of electricity between them as their skin touched. Trembling, she turned round to face Tatum and saw the NXT Women’s Champion looking at her with wonder. “Lyra, why did you really come here to see me, instead of at the arena?”
“I…I told you…I wanted to let you have your moment with your friends.” Lyra mumbled out, casting her gaze downwards at the ground. She hated herself, she knew why she really wanted to talk to Tatum alone, she knew why she’d bribed that Receptionist to get her into Tatum’s room, but she was too much of a coward.
She felt Tatum’s finger reach under her chin and come upwards, tilting Lyra’s head back up to look at Tatum, and again Lyra marvelled at how their roles had been reversed.
“Lyra, my Sweet Dove, I think it’s more than that.” She uttered and Lyra swallowed nervously, trying to look away from Tatum but finding it nearly impossible to. “Why did you want me all alone Lyra?” Tatum asked and Lyra opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say.
“Tatum…I…I’ve missed you. You’re…everything to me and…my Weird Girl.” Lyra stumbled out, reaching out with a trembling hand and cupping Tatum’s cheek, stroking it with her thumb. Tatum closed her eyes and hummed in happiness. Seeing Tatum like that gave Lyra a quick boost of confidence and she decided to take the plunge.
“I love you Tatum.” She stated simply and quickly. Tatum’s eyes snapped open, wide and disbelieving.
“You…love me?” She asked hesitantly and Lyra nodded quickly.
“Yes…I do. It’s taken me a long time to realise it but…I love you Tatum Paxley.” Lyra got out quickly before her confidence died again. Tatum was silent for a moment and Lyra feared she had blown everything up, and then Tatum dove forward, planting her lips on Lyra’s.
The Raw superstar felt her mind blow as she felt Tatum’s soft lips on hers, felt Tatum’s hands roaming over her back and encouraging Lyra to do the same. Lyra started slow, resting her hands on Tatum’s back before slowly dipping lower till they rested on her leggings clad ass. At that Tatum broke off the kiss, breathing heavily as Lyra saw her looking at her with lust filled eyes.
“Finally.” Tatum breathed out, “do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to see what I see my love?”
“Better late than never?” Lyra offered weakly, making Tatum laugh as she took Lyra’s hand.
“Better late than never indeed. Now come with me my Sweet Dove, we have a lot to catch up on.” Tatum stated seriously, Lyra took a deep breath and nodded, looking into Tatum’s face and losing herself once more.
“Anything for you Tatum, anything for you.”