[Monday]
(Seb's P.O.V.)
Soreness awaken's me from my sleep. I feel myself gaining consciousness and I move slightly but it's as if I can feel every hit I was given the previous night. Thanks to that table spot I feel as though I was hit with a truck. I roll over and transition my arm with me, expecting it to land on a sleeping Gionna, but all I feel is the bed. My eyes open and the bed is empty other than myself. Confusing forms in my mind but then the memory sets in. I kissed Gionna last night. I now remember it clearly. She had caught me from falling down. Once her grey eyes had met mine, I had felt such a strong connection. It was as if the universe itself was pulling the two of us together. "Ugh I'm such an idiot", I had thought to myself as I had moved to lay on my back. I placed my palm over my eyes and the bridge of my nose. I wanted to take things slow. I was already aware of my feelings for her, but I didn't want to rush into anything. There's also her feelings to think about. What if she doesn't feel the same way? Our friendship could be over because I let my feelings cloud my judgement. I'm reminded of the way her lips felt against mine. Although I was nervous on how our relationship would be going forward, the memory of our kids brought an inevitable smile to my face. Fighting through my pain, I sat up. She probably thinks I'm some kind of player or something and left. I wouldn't be surprised if she avoided me. I grab my phone off the charger and check my notifications.
-1 New iMessage-
Gi✨
Went to grab us some coffee and breakfast. Be back soon. Don't steal my title while I'm gone😂
A sigh of relief drained all of the anxiety from my lungs. After reading her text, I examined the room and noticed her stuff was still here. Maybe I over exaggerated. With my feet planted on the floor, it was time for me to get showered and ready for the day.
(Gionna's P.O.V.)
"I don't know D. I want to be happy about it, but when I am I just feel guilty. I know things ended bad between him and his ex, and I don't want this to confuse things or ruin our friendship", I vented to Daria (Sonya Deville). "Have you told him how you feel? Have you at least talked about it?", she asked. We had just left the cafe we grabbed food and coffee from. We were making our way back to the hotel. We had plenty of time to roam the city and recharge our batteries from last night since Raw was in the same town. "No... I kinda woke up before him and was nervous so I left. Which brings us to me asking you if you wanted to grab coffee with me.", I responded. She smirked a bit as if she was trying to hide a laugh. "D, it's not funny! I need help. I'm worried", I say with a laugh. Her laughter was always contagious. She had a way of helping ne calm down and not overthink these things. "Okay okay! You need to talk to him. Tell him how you feel. With how quickly you two became close, even if he doesn't feel the same way I don't see it harming your friendship. You need to be a big girl Gi", she advised as we made our way through the automatic doors of the hotel. "But I don't wanna.", I pouted. Once we got into the lobby we both saw the subject of our conversation standing in the lobby conversing with Johnny Gargano. It was from a distance, but we could hear their conversation. "I'm telling you man. Your Red Robin gear last night was amazing! Wish I would've thought of it myself.", Johnny had complimented him. "Well I have to thank you on that one. Main Event Gear did such a good job with it. I had no clue that's where all of your gear came from. They nailed it", Seb had responded. Daria and I had made our way over to them. "Okay boys, we get it. You're both nerds.", She had teased them. After a short greeting, Johnny insisted he had to get back to his hotel room so he could FaceTime Candice, who was at home with their newborn baby. "Seb, GiGi has something she wants to talk to you about.", Daria bluntly spoke. He turned his attention to me with a kind of "oh?" expression. "What's up Gi?", he asked. I froze. Our eyes had met again but once they did I just got reminded of how fantastic our kiss had felt. "I....uhh...." My eyes had scanned the room. "I got you breakfast sandwich. If that's okay", I nervously answered with an awkward smile. He chuckled and looked at me. "Yeah Gi, that's fine. I got your text.", he informed me as I handed him his bag and coffee. "Are we going back to your room?", he questioned. "No!", I blurted out. "I mean, yeah if you want to. Let's go have breakfast together.", I caught myself. Daria had an "oh brother" look on her face as she rolled her eyes. "Well I'm going to go workout. Have fun you two", she added as she departed. We went back to my room and ate our breakfast and watched tv. We chatted a bit but not as much as usual. You could feel the elephant in the room. Neither of us dared acknowledging it.
[Monday Night Raw]
(Seb's P.O.V,)
Adam Cole had just teased a cash in on Seth Rollins, following his match with Chad Gable. The segment had ended with Rollins in the ring with the World Heavyweight Championship and Cole walking backwards up the ramp holding up his ticket to a free title shot. I had my gear on, but had nothing scheduled for tonight. I was just told to be prepared. They had something in the works involving The Club/Judgement Day storyline. I had just finished filming a video with Woods for UpUpDownDown. I had approached him last week after his last video dropped asking if I could be on the channel because I had loved following the show for years now. Gaming was also a hobby of mine. My knowledge of video games wasn't as vast as the New Day member's was, but I wasn't a noob. A crew member came up to me in a hurry. "You're on. Triple H said you have a match. Ricochet got injured last night and you're in the title match to crown a new champion. You gotta go!", he educated me. My eyes widened and I froze a bit. "Well what are you waiting for dude? Get out there!", Woods had instructed me as he clapped. I hurried and made my way to gorilla and his departing voice could still be heard. "Go win that title and we'll have you back on the show next week!", he called out. The finish was explained to me as my opponent made his entrance. It was former champ, who Ricochet beat to retain the title the night before, Austin Theory. Ricochet successfully defended his title last night against Theory in a blowoff match to end their 3 month rivalry. Ricochet won it at the Royal Rumble when he beat LA Knight for the title. I couldn't believe I was already in the title picture. I had seen fans online pushing for this to happen as soon as possible but I thought I was gonna build up there slowly. I walked through the curtain and made my entrance.
"Slingshot rolling dropkick by Theory nails Drake square on the jaw! Theory is a few seconds away from capturing his third United States Title!", Graves called from ringside. My eyes looked around dazed, selling the Atlanta native's signature move. He pulled me up from my feet and hoisted me up into a fireman's carry. "Theory has Sebastian in position for an A-Town Down!", Kevin Patrick commentated. Before he could land his finishing blow, I slid off his shoulders and hit him with a forearm to the back of his head. What followed next was a kick to the back of the former champ's leg. As Austin was dazed, I backed myself into the corner. I grabbed my arm, and took my stance. "Bankai!", I shouted, calling for my signature move.
With fast feet, i rushed in and nailed him in the back of his head with my elbow. I had collapsed on top of him as he fell face first to the mat. "Drake has no energy to capitalize. He's still feeling the effects of the match last night against the Judgement Day!", Corey noted from ringside. He was right. I still felt the pain from my last match, so I adjusted my move set. Instead of picking up Theory and going for the Killshot, I grabbed his head and locked in an inverted dragon sleeper and pulled back on it. To keep him from escaping, my legs coiled around his torso like a snake. "Demon Slayer! The dragon sleeper he calls the Demon Slayer! He's reaching deep in his arsenal with this move!", Graves announced, showing he knows the history of my career. It's true. I hadn't used this move in a while. Not since before I got signed to AEW. I tightened the grip on my legs and arms. The referee asked Austin if he wanted to continue but there was no response. He grabbed Theory's arm and dropped it. He was out cold. The official called for the bell and i release the hold. "Here is your winner, and NEW United States Champion, The Eternal King, Sebastian Drake!", Samantha Irvin announced. I had made it to my knees and was handed my newly won title. I looked at it and felt proud of myself. I was already making great strides in the company after not being here long. Some would argue that I didn't deserve this and it was too soon. The next goal is to prove that I belong here. I belong to be champion. With trembling legs and shaky knees, I stand and raise the title over my head. Out of nowhere, I'm blindsided by Dominik Mysterio. He attempts to continue his attack on me but I fight back. He rolls out of the ring and I'm led to believe I'm in the clear before I get turned around and hit with a low blow by none other than Rhea Ripley. After I dropped to the mat, Dom reentered the ring as if he was a shark that smelled blood in the water. They stomped me out before I heard a song I hadn't heard before.
It was Liv Morgan. She had rushed to the ring with a kendo stick and before she could engage the dark couple, they cleared the ring and hopped the barricade. Before they fully escaped, Liv grabbed a microphone. "Hey! The only reason Judgement Day beat The Club was because of you Rhea. Last night, they had my back. So from here on out, I have their back.", She declared. I had made it back to my feet with my title and took my place standing next to her. "At Payback, Drake and I challenge you and Dom to a tag team match", she followed before dropping the microphone. Her music resumed as the members of the evil faction were left dumbfounded as we stood in the ring lifting our titles up. Earlier on in the night, Liv was rewarded a new title. There was no more "Raw Women's Championship. She now held, and was the first, WWE Women's Heavyweight Champion.
[Two Hours Later]
"You gonna stare at that thing all night?", Gi teased me as I was examining my new hardware. "I'm surprised, you're not drooling over yours", I shot back at her pointing at her new title. "Eh I already did for the rest of the show after I got it.", she said. "Look at us. We're champions. I finally feel respected. Appreciated. I worked so hard and took a big leap of faith leaving AEW. I never thought I was going to hold another one of these.", I rambled as I sat next to Gi on the couch continuing to look at the belt. "I feel on top of the world. Like i can do anything", I added. "Maybe even.....talk about our kiss from last night?", Gi spoke breaking my focus from the title. I turned to her. "Oh i uhhh", I stammered. She took a deep breath, as if she'd been practicing this all day. Working up to it. She put on a stern look. "Seb, we gotta talk about it.", she insisted. "Gi, I'm sorry. Once I looked into your eyes, I don't know. I couldn't control myself. I understand if it was out of line and irresponsible.", I started before she cut me off. "Seb you don't have to apologize. There was two people in that kiss. It's fine. I'm not upset or mad.", she consoled me. "Thank goodness. I'm just glad we're on the same page and we can go back to being friends.", I stood up and was about to make my way to the bathroom to change. "No. We can't.", she began. Those words sent sorry into my chest. I turned around and looked at her. "Seb, I have feelings for you. If you don't feel the same way, we can still be friends. You can tell me. I won't be upset but I need to know, do you have feelings for me the same way I have feelings for you?", she asked me. My eyes widened. She was so blunt about it. I had to gather myself. My hand found it's way onto my chin. I opened my mouth to speak before she cut me off. "Don't you dare lie to me. Put your hand down.", she demanded as she stood up and walked to meet me face to face. "What?", I responded with a puzzled expression. "You always rub your chin when you lie." Her eyes began to tear up a bit. I put my hand down. "Look I care about you. I have strong feelings for you. I know you went through a lot with your ex but I can't hide it anymore. We need to talk about the tension between us. I need to know. Do you have feelings for me?", she looked up at me through her rounded glasses. I place my hands on her waist. "Do I have feelings for you?", I said. "How could I not? Gi, you keep me going. You're the highlight of my days. You've been there for me since I got here. When everything happened with my dad, you stood by me and supported me. You're the ray of sunshine in my world. I didn't want to talk about this because I didn't want to risk losing you. Of course I have feelings for you." I revealed. Her head went down, looking at the floor as i finished what I had to say. "Gi? Would you look at me please?", I pleaded to her. "I hate you." She said softly. I was confused. What did i say? Did i do something wrong? Her head lifted up to reveal tears falling from her eyes with a smile. "How dare you make me cry with your nice words. Why didn't you just tell me you big dummy?", she sniffled. I removed her glasses and wiped the tears from her eyes. Once again, our gazes had locked on each other. The same connection I felt last night had returned, but stronger. "Gi?", I spoke softly. "Just kiss me already", she replied. I pulled her in and lead my lips to hers. Her arms wrapped around my neck and my hands remained on her waist. It felt freeing. No more baggage to give us constant anxiety. It was an unapologetic connection. No guilt or risk of losing our friendship. At the moment, the only thing in the world that mattered was her, and this kiss. After a few minutes, we pried ourself apart. "We should get to bed. It's been a long couple of days for you, new champ.", she poked fun at me. I smiled. "You didn't do too bad yourself. New champ." I retorted using her own words against her. We got changed and got into bed. She cuddled into me as i wrapped my arm around her. "Hey Seb?", Gi whispered. "Yeah?", I quietly spoke back. "Are we together now?", she looked up at me. "I would love nothing more.", I answered. She smiled as she shut her eyes. The interaction put a grin on my face as well. My eyes began to get heavy and fell. I felt on cloud 9 as I sailed into my slumber, holding my dreams in my arms.
[Tuesday]
I'm awoken by a soft pair of lips on my forehead. Then another kiss on my lips. My eyes open to see Gi over me, completely dressed and ready for the day. "Good morning boyfriend", she greets me emphasizing my new title to her. I smile as I sit up. "Good morning girlfriend.", I return the sentiment. "Did I oversleep or something?", I asked her confused as to why she was dressed. "No. Well I decided to let you sleep in. It's been on long couple of days. We don't have a live event tonight or tomorrow, so we have the next couple days off. No need to be up super early or anything", she explained. A soft buzzing comes from the nightstand that gets my attention. The vibration is coming from my phone. The reason is, my dad is calling me. I pick it up and answer his call. "Hello? New United States Champion speaking?", I answer in a joking tone. "Son you didn't tell me you were gonna have a title match last night! You said you and Gionna didn't have anything planned on the show so I went to bed early! You're a champion again! You're one badass dude!", my father congratulated me. "Thanks dad. I get it from you. It was a very last minute decision. I mean they probably had it planned. I just found out about it not too long before.", I responded. "Son, do you know the people who have held that title? Rey Mysterio, both hardy boyz, John Cena! I know you've won titles before but this one has a lot of legacy behind it ", he went on. My father and I converse a bit. He asked how I had recovered from the concussion. I asked how he was recovering himself. He even informed me that he got released from the hospital yesterday and he was home. "Yeah I'm still a bit sore but I'm at least home where I can watch Walker in my own chair.", he said. I promised him we'd stop by next week and visit. After a bit more catching up we said our goodbyes and i finally got up and got ready for the day.
After a shower, I leave the bathroom fully dressed. Gi is sitting on the table on her phone with an uncertain look that I don't catch right away. "Hey can you hand me my phone? I wanna check socials.", I ask her. She looks off to the side then grabs my phone but hesitates. "Uhhh why don't we just worry about that later? You just got up. Let's go enjoy our first day as a couple.", she said giving me her counter offer. "Yeah. Let's do it. Just hand me my phone.", I reply. She still has an easy expression and gives me a look. "Gi just hand me my phone. What's wrong?", I pry to her. She reluctantly hands it over not saying anything. I take it from her and open it. I begin to go through socials and am met with unexpected posts. The majority of the internet wrestling community is posting about my title win from the previous night. It seems it wasn't received well.
"What has he done to earn a title win? Didn't he just lose his first match? On a PLE too?"
"Damn. They must really like him. Didn't think we went to WWE just to be handed things."
"He's not the real champ. They'll have him drop it back to Ricochet when the TRUE champion returns. #GETWELLSOONCHAMP"
"I don't even like Theory but he would've been the better option. He's a former US Champ. It makes sense. Drake hasn't been built up enough. He should lose it next week. What a joke"
"The next guy WWE plans to shove down our throats. Should've just stayed in AEW where he belongs."
The posts and reactions from the fans have me shaken. I felt like I had worked hard to be trusted to be the person to help take control of the situation when Ricochet got hurt. After the match, he texted me and told me himself to congratulate me. He said they made a great choice. The locker room was very complimentary of my achievement. I thought the fans liked me. I'd been a heel before but even then I got cheered. I got over organically. I've had a good relationship with the fans for the majority of my career. I don't understand how they could turn on me like this. "Babe?", Gionna had said attempting to get my attention. Said attempt would fail to get my focus away from the harsh internet critics. "Seb?.... Babe!", she spoke a little louder at the end which broke my trance. "Huh? Yeah what's up?", I responded, putting my phone in my pocket. She looked concerned. She scooted over to sit on the edge of the bed and grabbed my hand. "Hey, don't listen to them. You're doing great. They're trusted you with this. You'll win over the fans by being you.", she consoled me. I nodded my head. I was listening to what she said but the words of the people still remained on my mind. "Are you going to be okay?", she questioned. She tried to make eye contact with me, but I was looking off into the distance. My mind was still clouded with the negative reviews. "Yeah. It doesn't bother me. I'm fine.", I answered her, rubbing my chin with the hand she wasn't holding. She caught me by surprise by standing up. My gaze was focused on her. We were face to face. She put her hands on each side of my face then pulled me in for a kiss. I kissed her back wrapping my arms around her waist. Once we pulled away, a smile had creeped its way onto my face. "What was that for?", I asked confused. She looked at me with her beautiful grey eyes. "I know how harsh fans can be on the internet. I've gotten my fair share. I know you're not okay. It hurts. I know you want to put on a strong act and be manly in front of me so I don't look at you differently but it's okay. I don't want you to feel like you have to lie to me.", she explained. I pulled her in for a long embrace. Our arms wrapped around each other. I could stay like this forever, but eventually we separated. "Now what was that for?", she took her turn to ask the question. "How did I get so lucky to have you?", I answered her question with a question. She giggled and smiled at me. "By being the amazing guy you are. Now let's go." We left our room and began our day. We had decided to wait to tell anyone that we were together. We wanted to enjoy our one day together without being hounded by questions and things of the sort. We did plan to keep our relationship on the low from the general public. Didn't want to have to deal with that backlash too. It wasn't their business.
Gionna and I had a blast spending the day together. We walked around the local mall. Stopped at a few of the local stores. We made the mistake of wandering into a sneaker shop. Knowing both of us, we ended up spending a good amount of time there. I bought her a few pairs and even decided to get myself a couple. She insisted on paying but I refused and gave them my card before she could even remove hers from her purse. "Babe! You didn't have to do that. I picked the ones for you because I wanted to get them for you!", she exclaimed. I laughed as she playfully punched me in the shoulder. "Baby it's fine. This is my gift to you. Just because I wanted to.", I say to her. We left and returned to our hotel room and relaxed for a bit. We did a lot of walking. There was the mall, but we also went sight seeing and enjoying getting to witness the city. Later in the evening, we decided to go on our first date. We went to a local restaurant for dinner. It was a really nice establishment. Not too fancy but, it wasn't a fast food place. She looked up from her plate to notice me staring at her. "What? Is there food on me or something?", she giggled. "No, I'm just admiring your beauty.", I responded. She blushed and grinned. "Wow. What a charmer. You keep it up, you're going to be stuck with me.", she joked. I grabbed her hand from across the table. "You say that as if it's a punishment", I point out. We share a kiss before finishing our meal. This time she gets the jump on me and gives the waitress her card to pay before I could get mine out. "Gi, I told you I got it.", I told her. She smirked at me before giggling. "You got our shoes, I got dinner. And buts. You can leave the tip. Our waitress was nice so you better tip her well", she retorted before giving me that big bubbly smile of hers.
We left the restaurant and began walking back to our hotel. She held my hand and wrapped her other free arm around my arm. We were stopped by a little girl with a Liv Morgan shirt on giving Gi a hug. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! It's really you! Liv you're my favorite! And Sebastian Drake! You're so cool!", she exclaimed. She had to be at least 9 or 10. I greeted her and gave her a smile. Gi got just excited as she was. I always enjoy watching her interact with her fans. She loves them so much. "Oh my gosh! You're so adorable! What's your name sweetheart?", Gi asked her. "Madison", she responded. Gi looked around a bit. "Madison it's great to meet you! Where's your parents sweetie?" Just as she got her question out, a woman came rushing over. "Madison! Please don't run off without me like that honey.", her mother instructed her. "You must be her mother. I'm so sorry she ran off.", Gi apologized. Her mother adjusted herself after running to follow her daughter. "No it's fine. I'm sorry about her coming at you out of nowhere. She LOVES you. You're her idol.", her mother informed us. "She also really likes you too. She's been watching you since your AEW days.", she pointed to me. "Well aren't you just the sweetest? I love your shirt!", Gi complimented her. She had now kneeled to her to be at her level. "Do you really?", the young girl asked. "I do too. I have one just like it.", I informed her. She laughed and smiled at me. "No you don't.", she replied. Gi looked up with a smile before turning her attention back to the young fan. "No it's true. I made him wear it last time we went bowling.", she disclosed. Madison asked for a picture with us and we were happy to fulfill her request. "Are you guys gonna beat Dom and Rhea?", Madison questioned. Gionna and I exchanged a look. "Well if you want to know, you're just going to have to watch us.", I told her. "Hey that's my line!", Gi gasped. As we were interacting with the young fan a few older guys walked by. They had to be in their mid twenties. They didn't get too relatively close to us but the smell of alcohol emanated from them. "Hey Drake! Quit telling that young fan lies! You didn't do anything to earn that title. Why don't you show us that you deserve it you fluke champion!", they called out before disappearing into the distance. Gi grabbed my arm. "Don't mind them. You have nothing to prove.", she whispered to me. "Hey they're just jealous that you're so awesome. I'm so glad I got to meet you two.", Madison said. We talked to her a bit more before we went our separate ways. We got back to the hotel and decided to get changed and ready for bed. I was still taken aback by the male fans actions toward me earlier. As we got settled into bed, Gi snuggled closer to me. "Hey, you're doing everything right. You've already proven yourself.", she reminded me. She gave me a kiss on the cheek before getting comfortable and passing out. It took me a while but eventually I was able to get myself to fall asleep too.
[Wednesday]
I feel myself half asleep and half awake. It sounds as if there's knocking on our door. I'm then shaken awake. "Babe? Babe, there's someone at the door. Can you go answer it?", Gionna whispers. I sit up and force myself out of bed. Before I answer the door I throw on my shirt and check the peephole. It's Daira. Confused, I unlock it and open it. "Hey D. Whats going on?", I ask. She immediately helps herself in. "Good to see you. Go ahead and come on in.", i sarcastically say. "Guys, have y'all seen socials today?", she immediately brings up. Gi has now sat up and grabbed her glasses. "No. We're trying to stay off of socials for a bit.", Gi responds. Daria takes out her phone and pulls up pictures from a twitter post. "When we're you going to tell me you guys got together? It's all over social media. Twitter, instagram, facebook. It's everywhere.", she explains. Gi takes the phone from her immediately. "What? How did they find out?", i ask. The now fully awoken Women's champion is scrolling through Daria's phone and investigating the pictures. "Babe they got photos of us from last night. One of us eating dinner. A few of us kissing. Us holding hands. They got it all", Gi informs me. I go over and witness myself the posts.
Chris Van Vliet
"Sebastian Drake and Liv Morgan spotted on a date at a restaurant last night"
Authorsofwrestling
"The WWE Women's Champion Liv Morgan and Newly crowned United States Champion Sebastian Drake were seen having dinner together and even spotted kissing. Had no clue these two were dating. Good for them."
WrestleOps
"Liv Morgan and Sebastian Drake have been confirmed to be dating. Maybe this was what led into their scheduled tag match with each other at Payback
Stache Club Wrestling
"Sebastian Drake and Liv Morgan are dating? Happy for them. We're fans"
The posts are mixed reactions between congrats and judgment. Heavier on the positive side. This isn't how it was supposed to go. We didn't plan on letting it out. Daria continues asking questions but Gi and I just exchange a look. How will this change our relationship going forward?
(Author's Note)
Another chapter completed. Wanted to try to throw in a bit of controversy into the mix. An unexpected turned with Ricochet getting injured caused current storyline plans to change in the United States title picture. Figured it would be interesting to mix it in with the Judgement Day/Club/Liv Morgan story. Also wanted to show the reality part of fan's opinions effecting wrestlers. It's a difficult thing when fans are extremely vocal about how unhappy they are with something you're involved in. Gionna and Sebastian end up getting together. Wanted to try to hold it off a bit longer but my gut was just telling me to pull the trigger already. Don't worry, I've already got a lot of plans and ways to keep it interesting moving forward (see what I did there?) I don't plan on ending the story anytime soon. Im happy so many of you enjoy it. I've got loads of ideas on where this can go. As always leave feedback and let me know what y'all think.