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The music blares as Lainey taps her nails against the bottle before her.
Her phone buzzes on the table. She doesn’t pick it up, doesn’t need to. She already knew who it was, after all, who else would it be?
She replays the attack in her mind, Fallon laughing as Kendal was hit with the chair, Jacy kicking Kendal in the stomach, and Lainey standing there, frozen, not knowing if it would be worse to stop Fatal, or give a blow to Kendal herself.
God, what was wrong with her these days?
Lainey looks across the bar, Fallon and Jacy clearly having no trouble forgetting all about her. Lainey pays her tab and leaves.
She knows she doesn’t need this.
Still, she gets in her car and begins to drive.
With Fatal, there was always a need to prove herself. To be tough enough, mean enough, strong enough, to earn her faction’s respect – it was no secret amongst the trio that if a member couldn’t carry her weight, she would soon be dropped by the others. Lainey would not let that happen to her.
The rewards Fatal could provide her with had always been more than worth her efforts – she was one with champions now. She didn’t mind overlooking what she had done for her success, so long as she kept succeeding.
However, there was no end goal to this. If anything, it would destroy everything she had built for herself in NXT, have her end up like Jazmyn Nyx. Never be seen again, or worse, a nobody, left to fade into the background. What Lainey really needed was to prove herself, to show everyone that she was as capable as she knew herself to be. She needed a new way to keep Fatal Influence entertained while she trained her way into securing herself another title shot. She certainly did not need to be spending her nights tangled in an enemy's bedsheets.
But, Lainey had long since learned that it didn’t matter what she needed, she would still end up here, every time the enemy called, she’d come closer.
So, Lainey’s foot stays on the gas.
In spite of what Lainey would tell herself, regardless of the logic she could use in an attempt to make herself stay away, somewhere deep down, Lainey knew that she wanted this.
For the first time in her life, she could feel herself truly wanting something, or worse, someone, other than chasing the feeling of gold around her waist.
And Lainey knew this want would fucking ruin her if she wasn’t careful.
She feels it, crawling under her skin, eating at her core, and settling deep in her bones. Every time she finds herself staring at her from across the ring, every time she decides to let Fallon and Jacy think she’s left for the night, it’s there.
All for something that will leave her worse off than before, driving home at 3am with a terrible ache where her heart should be.
It begins to pool low in her chest at the very thought.
She pushes it down and knocks at the door.
Because, Lainey never feels more alive than when she’s here. Never feels more like herself than when she’s with her. Maybe it was the thrill of hiding something from her faction, or even missing an old friend. Lainey had resigned herself to leaving this undiscovered somewhere after the third time her spine had met the mattress against her better judgment.
Her whole life had been molding to others, changing bits of herself in hopes it would aid her climb to the top. She couldn’t do that with her, even if she’d be far better off for trying. Lainey longs for the ease of the lie, yearns to find a version of herself that’s head isn’t too busy between her enemy's thighs to allow herself to think this through.
Not tonight. Tonight, Lainey resolved, would have to be different. She needed to end this, she’d tell her off, maybe even find a way to make this mistake into something to get her ahead —
The door swings open and Kendal stands before her, usually updone hair in loose waves at her shoulders, she pauses, looking at Lainey, then down the empty streets.
“Get in.”
Kendal grabs Lainey by the wrist and pulls her inside, a smile threatening to emerge on Lainey’s lips as the want begins, starting hot and fuzzy from where Kendal’s skin meets her own.
Maybe it won’t hurt for her to give in to what she wants, just one more time.