- CHAPTER FIVE -
"YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE THE PAST, ONLY CHERISH IT."
"So," the interviewer began, reviewing his notes before continuing, "you grew up Ireland alongside your sister, Becky Lynch. How does it feel to be able to work alongside her in the WWE?"
Beth had been scheduled to go to many media events over the next week because her first WWE match would be televised on Sunday. The suits-and-ties wanted to promote the bout as much as possible leading into the pay-per-view in order to gather even more attention to ensure that this match would bring people into the arena. That brought her to another new city, where she sat across a table from a scrawny man with curly, brown hair. He was the nerdy type, as some may say, though Beth didn't believe in stereotypes.
She had been the smallest girl in her graduating class, yet she could outrun the biggest. Beth Lynch would out-lift and out-work every person that was in her way, no matter what.
Taped interviews were one part of Beth's persona that needed help—she was quiet, and shy, and used to struggle in situations like this. However, with the help of Finn when she was younger, and the WWE giving her a few classes, Beth was now at the peak of her speaking abilities. This allowed her with more time on TV, because the company began to trust her more with a microphone, though she was picky about the way her character would be portrayed in their eyes.
To Beth, the Irish Illusion was mysterious, and quiet. But, the company wanted to make it into something different—something cowardice and weak—just because she was a heel. Beth Lynch hadn't believed in that idea; she created the Irish Illusion to be daring and dangerous, one that would do anything at anytime in order to help herself. That was the quality that made her a heel.
It was different in the ring; cutting promos in the ring allowed her to play the character she had created to entertain an audience. However, these one-on-one situations with interviewers was awful in the ginger's eyes. Beth Lynch hated talking about herself. There were layers and layers to her story that she was not ready to open up about, though Becky had already spoken about her a lot, leaving Beth to pick up the pieces, because Becky had not held back.
"WWE has always been both of our dreams since we were young. It was one of the only things we could ever connect on, honestly," Beth answered. "Usually, we were arguing, or throwing each other onto couches—you know, the usual."
The two laughed as Beth spoke about her childhood, though her words were carefully picked. Speaking on Becky held a soft spot in her heart after their last interaction, and she just hoped that their backstage argument would remain quiet. Beth Lynch was private outside of wrestling, and didn't enjoy her personal life being leaked all over the internet; she knew that if one thing was out, her past with Finn could easily show up as well and her chances with him would really be finished.
Speaking of the Irishman, the interviewer continued, "The two of you were then trained by Finn Bálor. That's quite the asset to add to your resume."
She smiled. She could talk about Finn for hours and never get bored; that's how many good memories they had shared during training. Of course, it had lead to something more that she would keep hidden to her grave, but Beth knew how to keep a secret.
"Finn is the best trainer in the world—I'm certain of it," Beth spoke, with no hesitation.
The interviewer smiled, "I'm sure, look how good you turned out to be."
"Thank you!" Beth exclaimed, gratefully. Her cheeks flushed with a pink color as she struggled to accept compliments. "Every ounce of success I have is all because of that man."
She would never lie about Finn, no matter how hurtful his mood swings could be on her. Beth saw the best in people, and would never choose it any differently. Her optimism carried her to believe that eventually, Finn would come back to her.
"You were with him in Japan for a little while, too, correct?" the next conversation started, a memory that made the Irishwoman smile.
Japan was one of her dreams that she had accomplished all because of Finn Bálor. He gave her the attention she needed in order to get her name out, allowing her to accompany him to the ring and be a valet in the Bullet Club for a little while, and that is why she was so successful. No matter how their journey ended in that company, or in that country, that is something that can never be taken away from Beth.
It was Finn's generosity that allowed Beth Lynch to be exactly who she wanted to be.
"Yes," she answered, "at first, I was just an escort, but eventually I got to start wrestling after we pushed the idea for months. I was even a small part of the Bullet Club while Finn was in charge. We were both at the top of our game; that never changes."
"And now you're main eventing RAW and quickly becoming all of the talk in wrestling," the interviewer smiled, making Beth realize she never even got his name.
Beth nodded, returning the smile as she listened to him close the interview, reminding listeners to tune-in on Sunday for the show. Her pale skin pressed against the door as she escorted herself out of the building after the formalities were taken care of, because she had already been running late for another interview.
Beth began to gain even more respect for Becky, knowing that Becky's life was consumed by media in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania. She began to wonder how her hot-headed sister was able to keep her composure, but allowed Beth to hold onto another reason that Becky potentially yelled at her for.
Heels clicked against the tile flooring as her phone rang, an unknown number appearing on the screen. Sighing, Beth answered the call, saying, "this is Beth."
"Beth, so good to hear from you," a familiar voice responded on the other end. The haziness couldn't take away the cheerful screech of Charlotte's sound as Beth closed her eyes in disgust. She didn't need to hear from Charlotte just yet—the stress of everything else in her life overflowing her at the moment.
"Charlotte," Beth sarcastically smiled, wanting nothing more than to go back in time and not pick up the phone. "Right now isn't the best time—"
"I'll be quick, Beth, no worries," Charlotte interrupted the Irish woman, talking over her. "I just heard about a certain backstage fight between you and your sister and I had to ask; has she been keeping the family promise to take care of you? Or, does she need me to babysit?"
Beth shook her head, not understanding why Charlotte cared about Becky Lynch's little sister so much. "Fuck off, Charles," she cursed. "Becky and I are fine."
Quickly, Beth hung up the phone, entering her rental car and putting it into drive as she rode to her next destination. Sighing, a hand went through her ginger locks as she wondered how much longer she would lie about Becky.
More than that, she wondered how much longer she would protect Becky, even if it came at her expense?
- TWELVE YEARS PRIOR -
Finn pulled his keys out of his pocket to unlock the doors of the Fight Factory Pro Wrestling building. However, his eyebrows furrowed as he heard noise from inside the building—the sound of mats rubbing against the ground. From inside, he could see the petite body of Beth Lynch setting up some mats to land onto as she practiced a springboard 450 splash.
Finn looked down at his phone, seeing that it was currently 7:56 in the morning. He shook his head, opening the door as Beth landed hard on her knees, the form of the front flip still being perfected.
"Your under-rotating," he noted, catching her attention as he walked towards a makeshift office desk to set his belongings down. "I know it's hard using the ropes, but take one moment longer to balance before using your legs to propel into the air. It will give you enough strength to pull your knees into your chest to tuck fully. From there, you should be able to flip a little bit faster."
Catching her breath, Beth nodded as she pictured exactly what Finn had instructed her to do in her head before she stood up to do it again. Following his directions, she used her momentum to stand on the ropes, gathering herself before jumping off of the top rope and tucking forwards, until she landed on her stomach. The impact took the breath out of her lungs, but she smiled as she finally landed exactly how she needed to if someone were there to take the hit themselves.
Finn smiled slightly, looking down at the ground. No woman in the business was competing at the level Beth was at the age of sixteen. She could go far with her determination, but he knew determination wasn't the only thing bringing her into the gym this early in the morning. The Irishwoman had been coming in early on the weekends for weeks now, but Finn had been gone in Japan for the time being and had missed not only Beth's birthday, but months of her training. Before, she struggled to even pull her body onto the top rope, and now she was doing front tucks off of it.
Scratching his nose, Finn's legs began moving towards the ring as Beth rolled over onto her back and looked at the ceiling to catch her breath, not used to the impact yet. Sliding under the bottom rope, Finn lay down next to the ginger to talk.
"It's not hard to figure out that you're here because you're trying to take your mind off of things, Beth," he spoke, killing the silence. Then, turning his head towards hers, he traced his blue orbs over the countless freckles filling her face as he noted her maturity over the few months of his absence. She was taller, built with more muscle than she had previously, but still appeared young. He continued, "how is your mom?"
Beth's brown eyes closed as she calmed her emotions, not wanting to think about her mother's condition. "Nice to see you, too," she changed the subject, reminding him that he had been gone from her life for months as she was left to deal with her mother alone. Becky hadn't come back from the states almost at all, and though it wasn't Finn's responsibility, he felt guilty that he hadn't even so much as given his best client a phone call or text message since the night he left.
He distracted himself with wrestling; it was his life, and rarely he would indulge in one night stands to fit his needs. Finn Bálor's mind was almost always focused on his professional wrestling career, however, and his selfishness distracted him from a girl whom he cared for deeply, and the mother whom he saved that fateful night.
The normal, excited feeling Beth felt in the presence of Finn Bálor was different this time compared to the others—this time she was upset, and angry, and confused. The urge for Beth to pull away from Finn alerted the brunette of that, catching him off-guard as he tried to act like it wouldn't bother him. It shouldn't bother him; sure, he cared for the young girl like a sister, but that was it.
Finn tapped his fingers on the canvas a few times as he became caught up in these thoughts, before he stood. Growing up, he only had one sister and three brothers, but he knew that women needed different ways of comfort than men. And in this situation, he hated seeing young Beth in so much pain, so much so that he would do anything to stop it.
"Stand up," he ordered, also standing himself. Beth, though she wanted to be left alone and not have to face Finn's beautiful eyes at the moment as her emotions were running high and the ache in her chest for him was more than apparent, followed the order because she would always do as she was told at the end of the day. She trusted Finn with everything involving wrestling, and when she was in his building, Beth Lynch would follow his rules.
His almost-red lips turned upwards into a smile at her compliance as he lay a hand on her toned shoulder. "How are you?" he asked seriously, demanding her eye contact, something Beth struggled with regularly, let alone when she was pouring her emotions out. She was a strong woman, and didn't want to bother anyone with her feelings when there were more things to worry about.
"I'm okay," she nodded, trying to hide behind a lie that Finn wouldn't take. She moved her eyes to look down at her feet, unable to lie without looking away. Finn then moved his hand underneath her pale chin and lifted her head to meet his gaze once again.
His head shook side-to-side in disdain, deciding not to press the topic if she wasn't ready to talk about her current life-situation. He couldn't imagine the pain, stress, and pressure she must be feeling because for her, there was no other option other than wrestling.
Opening his arms, he motioned for Beth to embrace him, wanting to give her a safe place, an outlet to go to when she needed it, because she had no one. Finn Bálor knew what lonely felt like, and would never want to let someone as good as Beth be ruined by it. "Come here," he softly said, wrapping his arms around her small body as his chin rested on top of her head.
He knew that this behavior wasn't necessarily encouraged, especially because he was supposed to be her teacher and he was ten years older than her. But, Beth Lynch had a soft spot in the heart of The Prince, one that no one else could say they had. So, his kiss onto her head was just icing on the cake.
And although Beth was going through one of the hardest times in her young life, for a moment she smiled. For once, she could say that Finn Bálor gave her a form of affection, whether it be in pity or in love.
For a moment, everything was perfect.
...