Not that bad // Rhea Ripley

76 - Emperor's New Clothes

 "Heroes always get remembered, but you know legends never die"

Panic! At the Disco

Michael's message had me tossing and turning all night, and I kept thinking about it for the two to three weeks after this.

It was now my first day in NXT, and Demi insisted on coming with me, even though she had no matches or appearances that night. We decided to keep traveling together, and sharing hotel rooms, since it worked for us, and made us save money.

"Shit, why am I stressed like it's my first match?" I whined, as I sat on a flight case backstage. "Get it together Roxanne for fuck's sake!"

"Hey hey, be easy on yourself." Demi came behind me and started massaging my shoulders softly, but firmly, her fingers digging in my skin just right. "You haven't been wrestling solo for quite some time, of course it's scary. But I'm going to say the exact same thing you told me. You're amazing, and you're a very gifted athlete. Everything will be fine. Plus you're staged to win right?"

"Yeah, yeah I am." I shook my head. "It's just almost all my solo matches have ended up with an injury for me."

"Hey sh, don't jinx yourself." She shushed me. "You're going to go out there and kill it. And then, just like you did, I'll take you out for dinner, how does that sound?"

"It sounds pretty amazing." I smiled sheepishly. "Thank you so much Demi."

She just smiled in return, and let me go when my cue was given. She gave me a thumbs up and a bright smile as I stepped in the gorilla. My theme song, a shortened version of Hypa Hypa by Electric Callboy started playing, and I waited for the song cue to appear. The shot of pure adrenaline that I felt as I ran down the ramp was the sweetest thing I had felt in months. I was on my own, and sure it was scary, but now I could shine all by myself. My opponent made her entrance right after, and the match started soon. We didn't have a lot of air time, so we both needed to make the best of it. We performed incredible moves one after the other. Some dangerous, some only spectacular, and as predicted, the match ended on my win. Now the reaction of the public would decide if I was going to take a heel persona or not, and judging by the incredible cheering, I was definitely not gonna be one. I helped my opponent up, savoring the cheers a little more, before going backstage. Demi and Phil were waiting for me, and they engulfed me in a group hug as soon as they spotted me. I swear I could have cried right on the spot. This felt like the climax of my journey, and at the same time it also felt like it was just the beginning.

"The crowd was on fire, oh my god!" Phil exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever seen them that fired up for a match including someone they didn't know at all. No offense to you Demi."

"None taken, she deserves it!" She smiled.

"Thank you so much guys, it means so much that you stayed to watch me." I wiped a small tear that almost escaped my eye. "I'm going to take a quick shower, and then we'll go Dem's, if that's okay with you?"

She smiled and nodded, and I disappeared in the women's locker room for a well deserved shower.

"So, when are you going to make a move on her?" Phil asked Demi, his arms crossed on his chest, a teasing voice in his tone.

"What, what are you talking about?" Demi's eyes widened.

"Yeah, don't play dumb." He rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Rox, you like her, don't you? I see the way you look at her."

"Oh... That." She blushed like crazy. "I don't even know if I'm going to make a move you know, and it's just a small crush for now, I wouldn't dare call it "liking her" yet." She sighed a little. "I don't even know of she's into girls, and I can't bring myself to ask her the question. I don't want to risk losing her as a friend, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it." I smiled and patted her shoulder. "I never saw her go out with girls, so I can't really tell you about this. But maybe ask her, without specifically telling about your feelings. I don't know, but I think you'd be right for her." He gave her a friendly wink. "Oh, there she comes. I'll let you guys leave now, but think about it okay? Bye Demi."

I saw Phil talk to Demi, and leave as I got closer to them. I didn't really question it, and just linked my arm with Demi's, leading her to the car.

"So, where do you want to eat?" I started the engine, letting the hot hair flow in the very cold car. The late winter weather was just everything that I hated.

"I don't know? I'm kinda feeling sushi or something, if that's okay with you?" She asked.

"Yeah, perfect!" I searched for recommendations on my phone, and showed her one place. "Is that alright with you?" I handed her the phone.

"Yup, perfect!" She placed the phone back on it's socket, and clicked on it so I had the route indicated. I started shivering in place, my adrenaline coming back down. "Here, take this, you look like you're cold." She grabbed her sweater from the backseat.

"You won't need it?" I raised an eyebrow, unbuckling my seat belt. "I can just get mine in the trunk you know."

"I won't, and I have another one, and your blanket, I'll be fine." She assured. "Now don't catch a cold, future rising star of NXT." She winked.

"Oh shut up." I put on her hoodie. Since she was larger than me, her clothes were as well and I really liked the feeling of it. "If there is a rising star in NXT, that certainly is you!" I started driving once I was comfy and secured.

"Oh, speaking of that, I had a talk with the bookers, and they're thinking of giving me a push, but they still don't know how or when." She said, looking at me.

"Oh my, girl that's incredible! I'm so happy for you!" I squealed. "I'll hug you once we're there, I promise."

She smiled, and started humming to whatever song was playing on my playlist. I remarked that it was a little habit of hers whenever she was happy, or felt carefree, and I wasn't going to lie, I liked it, I liked it very much.