Only We Say (Alexa Bliss x Male Reader)

26 - Setting the Stage

You hang up the phone and turn to face Lexi, who's standing there in her ring gear for the first time in awhile. She still looks great in it, especially from your angle.

"Who was that?" she asks, a smile on her face.

"It was just Jon," you reply. "Been seeing a lot of 'leaks' about Sunday being my last match, so I wanna have that secured as a backup plan."

"Look at you, being all smart! Pam must have talked some sense into you."

You can't help but laugh a little bit at that. Yet, the more you think about it, the realization wasn't so much what she had told you, but rather that moment in time by itself.

At some point, you forgot how to focus on being a person. You forgot how to be... you. After all, isn't all of this about you?

"You could definitely say that," you chuckle, planting a kiss right on Lexi's forehead. She smiles and reaches up to return the kiss, but on your lips. "How did I ever score a girl like you?"

"Dumb luck?"

"Maybe..."

[A FEW MOMENTS LATER]

You walk out into the arena, where an audience of screaming fans welcome you into what seems like certain defeat. Tonight you'll go one-on-four with some of the best professional wrestlers on the planet.

The Usos seem to feel the need to get in your face, demanding to know where Roman is. You say nothing, but feign a lunge at them. Not only does it shut them up, but they head over to their corner, where Zayn and Joe are doing some last-minute strategizing.

The beginning of the match goes how pretty much everyone thought it was going to. You dominate the four of them by yourself, not giving any one of them a chance to recover before continuing the assault. All this, and Roman isn't even in your corner to help you...

... but Triple H is in the Authority's corner. He gets your attention just long enough to allow his allies to group up and turn the tides. Then the real assault begins.

They completely dominate you over the next few minutes, with each wrestler wearing you down using his own unique style. The Usos use the environment to their advantage, and anything that won't get them disqualified is used to hurt you. Sami, being the technician, uses various light strikes and holds to chip away at your remaining stamina.

Finally, it's Samoa Joe's turn. At this point, he figures he won't have to do much; maybe land a few heavy shots and put you to sleep? Yet, you continue to fight back the best you can until you even manage to turn the tide on him. It doesn't matter though, because Triple H himself steps in and ends the match with a series of shots from a chair.

Before they can continue the attack, Roman hops over the barrier and chases them away with a kendo stick. Triple H has a mic now.

"You want a match, Y/RN?" he yells into his microphone. "This Sunday, at Extreme Rules, you and I will go one-on-one in a steel cage... and if you lose, you're fired!"

Well, shit.

[A FEW MINUTES LATER]

You already know what he's going to say to you when you get to the back, so he doesn't even say it. He just points you in the direction of his wife and says something about trying his best to help you.

You walk a little numbly as you make your way to Stephanie's office, where she's waiting with a sober look on her face.

"I'm sure you know by now what I'm going to tell you," she says gently as you take a seat across from her desk.

"Yeah... I think I've known for awhile now."

"This Sunday, at Extreme Rules, you'll compete in your last match in WWE." The words don't register fully, and some part of your mind thinks it isn't set in stone. Maybe it's some insider thing, and even you need to be kept in the dark?

Would that really be the case, though? WWE knows your reputation; leaving you in the dark about something like this is bound to go wrong.

Stephanie has other things to say, but you're not really paying attention. She realizes this fairly quickly, but instead of ushering you out she gets up and leaves. That's probably for the better.

You can't recall how long you end up sitting in that chair. Even when the lights turn off, you don't immediately get up and leave. A million thoughts are racing through your mind. All of them are different scenarios where you aren't losing your dream job, and you feel like getting up will make it real.

Eventually, you get up and leave. Nobody's around, and it's half-past one. Lexi must have assumed that you left with someone else already, because your car isn't in the lot. No one's is. Fuck.

Not wanting to be a bother, you sling your bag over your shoulder and begin the walk to the hotel. The drive over was like 15 minutes, so the walk is going to be... not fun.

On the way there, you continue to think. Your relationship with Lexi is going to be a lot harder now, isn't it? Now that you'll be off doing work somewhere else, and she'll still be with the WWE. Then again, is that even true? As far as you know, you're the only one getting fired, but might be wrong.

When you put it into perspective, you being the only one getting fired is such bullshit! How can one of the top-selling guys be laid off? You're making them more money that half of the roster combined!

But, at the end of the day, maybe they'll give someone else a shot at greatness now that you'll be out of the way. Isn't that what it's about? Setting the stage for the next guy?

You pull your phone out and go to your contacts. Part of you debates calling Lexi, but honestly you don't want her to know what's happening just yet. You instead call Jon.

"Hey, what's up...?" he asks, not even bothering to hide the grogginess in his voice. To be fair, it's very late at night.

"I'm joining AEW."