As the drive went on, Nova and Marc were learning a lot about each other and were quickly showing each other sides of their personalities not many had seen, but as they spoke, there was still a subject Marc wanted to bring up, but he didn't know how to approach such a hard subject , however Nova being Nova picked up on the slight atmosphere surprisingly quickly and said to him, sipping her water, knowing exactly what his question was that he wanted to ask " you can ask you know, I'm not gonna bite your head off, you wouldnt be the only person to ask me ". In shock, he looked over at the beauty sitting with him out of the corner of his eye and smiled before asking "what happened to make you take this path? Stuff I have read, you were Dusty's princess", Nova sighed and replied, fighting back the tears thinking about her dad " I always wanted to be like him, the wrestler he was, the mentor he was to people, he was my idol, still is to this day. I was young when Cody got signed, I remember i'd watched him and Dustin from home and knew what they were doing was what I wanted to do, I wanted to follow in my dads footsteps. As I got older and the longer they were there , it just seemed like the Rhodes/Runnels name was seen less as a legacy and more of a joke if that makes any sense" to which Marc nodded, thinking about Cody and his Stardust character while following the Sat Nav and getting concerned about where this woman was living. Still confused, he then asked "so if you were the princess, how did you even get trained by anyone other the legends that would've been around you growing up. The connections your family has, I would of thought you would've had your pick". Feeling herself feeling emotions she hadn't thought in a while, she replied, while looking out the window trying to fight back emotions "I was sneaky, I didnt want the special handouts because I was a Rhodes or a Runnels. No one knew I was training, they thought I was going on night outs, or attending camps for one of the many activities Cody had persuaded my dad to make me do to get me away from his precious sport, Swimming, Gymnastics, Dance I did them all, but I still wanted to be in the ring competing with a passion. They didnt find out until about a year into my training where it was I was actually going. I would get in my car or a Friday night and drive out of state, sofa surf, train and then come back on a Sunday evening. I should be greatful to Cody really, If I didnt have constant practise for sports teams , I wouldnt of had an excuse for where I was going. It wasnt until Uncle Martin Visted the school, that the shit hit the fan and everyone found out.
***FLASHBACK***
Sneaking through the door, back from another weekend of training, Nova was thankful that everyone seemed to be in bed, albeit earlier than normal. As the feeling of smugness washed over her that she had gotten away with her secret again, Nova slowly started making her way upstairs to get into bed, tired from the drive and training . As she got halfway up the stairs, suddenly the light in the lounge area turned on, and there stood her parents, plus Cody and her Uncle Martin, the looks on their faces were enough to send the most Vicious of dogs into retreat. Trying to feign innocence, Nova walked in and focused on her dad, knowing he was going to be her best bet in getting away with it and she said, as sweetly as she possibly could, pulling all of her 'daddy's baby girl, moves out of her arsenal, knowing she was his princess and she could get away with murder "Daddy, you scared me, I thought everyone was in bed,you look tired. Uncle Martin.. what a surprise I thought you were out of town. Well, that drive has exhausted me, I am going to bed. Early start, Ill see you bright and early" and with that, she gave her dad a kiss on the cheek before attempting to walk away. As she walked away, hoping she had gotten away with it again, she suddenly heard her mother say, the Cuban in her coming out (which was always a bad sign Nova had learnt very early on in life) " Novalee Matilde Runnels, you stay exactly where you are", the tone of her voice alone, frezzing Nova to the spot. As she turned around, she heard her godfather start to talk "so an interesting thing happened today, I was seeing an old friend at a school just out of state, and he mentioned to me a Brunette girl he was training that I needed to see. Thought she had the potential to make it to the top of the big leagues, had a natural talent for the sport apparently". Hearing this,the baby Runnels could've sworn she felt the colour from her face drain "shit" Nova thought to herself, all the while trying to keep a neutral look on her face as he continued "so I thought id see for myself, as normally this friend is never wrong and you can imagine my shock when I see from a distance, my own goddaughter inside a wrestling ring, training with not only women but with men double her size. Can you imagine my embarrassment, luckily for you I covered for you and no one knows who you actually are.... yet". SIghing a breath of relief at that piece of information , Nova looked at both her godfather and her parents all the while noticing her big brother getting more and more irate by the Second, something that was making Nova happy and stated, still focusing on her father "I can explain" to which her godfather replied with a look on his face Nova was more afraid of then her mothers angry latina side and that was saying Something " I think you need to little girl". As the brunette woman took a breath ready to put her side across, she saw her brother step forward , with the same petulant look on his face he had always had and a look Novalee was greatful she hadn't inherited and say furiously " why do you have to do this Novalee, why must you make everything about you all of the time. Me and Dustin are following in Dads footsteps, Why cant you just for once accept your place in the family and not make everything a Nova sized drama. Why dont you stick to the Sports dad has put thousands of dollars into that your good at , like your dance or gymnastics and leave wrestling to us and let dad's sons make him proud ". Before anyone could say anything else, Nova bit back at her brothers egotistical and in her opinion down right sexist views and replied, her anger brewing faster than a kettle at the boil " whats the matter Cody? Is the joke of wrestling worried that his baby sister might actually be better than him. Why dont you bite me Cody. I am doing this on my own and I am good, really good, Uncle Martin has seen me obviously he can vouch for me. I am sorry I lied to you all and I am sorry that I am not doing things the way you obviously want me to but I am training, with or without your approval". As she ran upstairs, she heard her father call after her and Cody yelled back " the hell you are Novalee, get back down here , we aren't finished" "come la polla de burro, imbécil petulante" "You watch your language "she heard her mother yell after her before she slammed the door.
***FLASHBACK ENDED***
As she finished telling the man driving her home the story, she could see a small smirk on his face as he responded visably proud of her for sticking up for herself against the man who he was increasingly becoming more and more angry at the man for treating this amazing woman the way that he had "well shit, remind me never to piss you off, I can't believe he was as much of an ass then as he is now" which made Nova laugh, a sound that made Marc smile and his heart beat out of his chest as she added "me and him have never really got on, sad thing is I dont think we ever really will. Growing up, he wanted to be the apple of my fathers eye, the one everyone though of as being ' Dusty's baby boy'., the pro wrestling prodigee. When our mom fell pregnant with me, I wasnt planned and his nose was put out of joint 10 fold . I ruined everything for him and he made sure I knew it". As they sat in silence, Nova signed as she looked out of the window, she couldn't help but wonder if they would ever get on or why it was her brother hated her so much. As they drove, Marc picked up on a change in the atmosphere and as he reached across, not sure if he was even doing the right thing, he squezzed her hand which shook the woman he was quickly falling for out of her self loathing. Carrying on she added with a small Smile on her face, "I always remember the day I told my dad about my character ideas and how I wanted to do it all on my own terms. My anxiety was through the roof but that day, he was the proudest he had ever been of me, and I miss that. I suppose in a way that is what made it so difficult at the time, them chucking me away so quickly after his death, because if hadn't of been okay with any of it, I would of knocked it on the head in a heartbeat, if anything he was my biggest support"
****FLASHBACK ****
As she climbed up the last few steps, Nova felt sick to the deepest depths of her stomach, this was going to go one of two ways and she really hoped it wasnt going to be the latter. Feeling her hands shake, the brunette took a deep breath before knocking on the door, instantly hearing her father yell to whoever it was knocking to come in. Poking her head around the door, she saw him smile as she asked him sweetly "Daddy, I know you are probably really busy, but I wondered if I could speak to you for a minute please" "of course Moondust, you dont ever have to ask. Come and sit down" she heard her father reply , the smile on his face a smile that she had inherited from him. As she shut the big wooden door to her fathers office, she sat on the chair next to him, her anxiety through the roof, something her father had instantly picked up on. Taking her shaking hands into his bear like paws, he asked her calmly , worried about whatever the situation was that was making his baby girl so scared and anxious " Nova, what's wrong? Your not pregnant are you?" "No Daddy. You know you raised me better than that. I have been working and training reallly hard lately and I have begun thinking and working on character ideas and development and I...... " "its okay Lee-Lee you can tell me. When have you not been able to tell your old pops anything" her father asked, squeezing her hand in his and Nova replied with the equivalent of word diarrhoea "I dont want to be known as a Runnels or as a Rhodes Pops, I wanna make my career mine from my own hard work and determination, I dont want to be handed jobs or titles because of who we are. I know its a tradition we all follow but...." feeling an anxiety attack starting, Nova had to stop before she exploded. Knowing his daughter like the back of his hand and knowing her secret struggle with anxiety that no one bar him knew about after witnessing her have a full blown attack after yet another argument with her brother at a competition when she was 13 which resulted in her telling him everything she was dealing with , Dusty took both her hand in his and pulled her into a fatherly hug, the same he did whenever he had witnessed one of her anxiety attacks, knowing it would instantly calm her down. As he hugged her and played with her hair, he declared to his daughter, hoping it would put her mind at ease " Novie, I will admit, I was surprised when you said you wanted to follow the path that I did and not in your dancing or your gymnastics, but I will tell you something now, to see all of my children succeed in life is the only thing I have ever wanted. I dont care if you use the Rhodes name, The Runnels name or neither, as long as you are happy my sweet girl, that is all that matters, and I can see a shine in those baby blues I have never seen before in any of the other sports you used to do, you are destined". Pulling her away from his embrace, he wiped her eyes and Nova asked as she sniffed, "what about Dustin and Cody though Pops, they are going to be mad especially Cody he isnt exactly happy about me training as it is, to put this pipebomb on top of everything else". Smiling at his daughter, proud of the young woman he had raised, the Dream replied " thats your problem Moondust, you have always put them and others and how they will react above your own happiness. Let me worry about your brothers, they are big enough and ugly enough to get over it besides , what they dont know wont harm them. Now, run your old man through some of these ideas of yours that see if I can help make them any better"
**FLASHBACK ENDED**
As Nova wiped her eyes at the thought of her fathers words and the embrace she missed more than anything else in the world , she sniffed and felt the hand in hers, squeeze it again. Sniffing again as she wiped her eyes with the free hand she joked "I have only ever told a couple of people those stories. You my friend, have a gift" to which the man laughed slightly, his mood however quickly changing as he pulled into her living area and he asked her, even more concerned about the woman that he was enthralled with " Novalee, please don't tell me this is where you live. It just looks like an unsafe bunch of old, disused warehouses" "it was all I could afford at the time, besides it's not as bad as it was, at least I have heating and a decent bed now which is always a bonus. Between me and some friends who helped out, I have managed to make it look more like a home and less like a craphole and that's saying something as it was at one point, a literal craphole " Nova replied, hating the fact that not only had she just admitted to someone she had just met that she had to rely on people to help her, but that she had got so low that she was homeless, squatting in a run down warehouse. As they pulled up to her place, she heard the man beside her gasp, out of either astonishment or shock, Nova wasnt quite sure and didnt really want to ask,, her anxiety through the roof. After a couple of seconds, the shock was replaced with the man beside her stating " Novalee this is...... wow" "you can come in if you want to, the dogs are always up for meeting new people, well one of them at least " she jokingly replied as she got out,shutting the door behind her. As Marc looked at the surrounding areas and then back at the building in front of him, he didnt know everything, he knew that and he knew there was more to the evil vixen he was falling for, but there was one thing he knew, no matter what, he was going to make sure that she was going to be safe.
As they both got to the front door, Marc who was still both concerned and nervous about her surroundings and where she was living said protectively as he looked around "I will grab the suitcases from the trunk in a minute, I just want to make sure your safely inside ", which made Nova smile to herself at his protective side as she replied while she put her key in the door "I haven't been jumped yet you know, you dont have to be concerned, besides even if I was, I'm not as weak as people think, I can hold my own" which made the man smile as he replied "Im sure you could Belle fille, but what kind of gentleman would I be if I didnt protect a beautiful woman, regardless of how elle est dure et dure". As soon as she had opened the door, both Marc and Nova were ambushed by two smal barrels of fluff that had appeared out of nowhere,excited to see their human. Trying to calm them, she said "cálmate cachorros, sé que los he extrañado a los dos también" which instantly calmed them down, "I didnt know you could speak Spanish" Marc stated, gobsmacked at how beautiful the language sounded coming from the woman's mouth " you never asked" she joked before adding " you pick it up when you are around relatives. After I had come back from Cuba and I had some money coming in from working, I taught myself More to keep myself busy and awake on the rougher nights when this place was worse than the streets. You can come further in you know, they wont bite. They dont have that many brain cells to think about attacking anyone".
As he walked in, he saw her interact with the animals, her eyes shining as she did, almost like she was still 'dusty's princess' instead of this seductive, evil Queen she had turned into. Watching her more, Marc started to feel his heart race as he felt himself falling hard for her. As someone that seems so broken and evil to people , he saw something else, she brought a brightness to his dark heart that normally he would of hated and kept away from at all costs, but with her it was different and he didnt know why. As he watched her for a bit longer, he got snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a wet nose burrow its way into his hand, looking down he saw the face of one of the two dogs who was now completely calm, looking up at him like she wanted love. As he played with her ears and stroked her, he heard a gasp and looking up he noticed the shock written on Nova's face " What? She's not gonna bite my hand off is she?" He joked while still playing and stroking the puppy and Nova responded stuttering, something that Marc found cute "how..... how. Sorry, shes called Lola and this one is called Luna, I'm just in shock she is never like that with anyone apart from me & their sitter " "like what? " he asked as the dog who he had been fusing over, jumped onto his lap as he sat down, shocking her owner more " she normally hates people.... shes her mommas girl" " Maybe she is picking up on something we aren't" he stated simply as Nova smiled and replied, her heart pounding out of her chest " Do you want a drink or are you getting picked up. I don't wanna keep you if you had plans" " I dont need to be anywhere. Like I said, someone is going to look after you for a while" he replied, smiling at the young woman he was finding himself falling for as Lola snuggled into him and watched her owner come in with two drinks and sit on the opposite side, all the while they laughed as they watch Luna running around with an old shoe.
Meanwhile, the Runnels family were stil dealing with the shock of seeing what their baby sibling had turned into after all the years she had been missing and out of them all, it was hitting Dustin the most. As he watched both his brother and sister in law still going on about wanting answers and how she was going to ruin everything they'd been working towards, he was struggling with the guilt he had about how much she had changed because of them and what they did that day. Growing up, Novalee wasn't just the apple of her fathers eye, she was also Dustin's favourite shadow , bar his daughter and now step children. Anywhere he went when he visited her or visa versa, there was a pretty damm high chance that Nova would be with him, staring at him with admiration. She was such a sweet, down to earth, funny, caring young girl/young teenager, someone his daughter had not only practically grown up with but had idolised, however for all her posistives, Nova was the most stubborn out of all of the Siblings too, which was one of the main reasons in Dustin's eyes why her and Cody never got on. Thinking back to that young woman and seeing now what she had become, this cold hearted, nasty almost evil soul, it broke the oldest Runnels heart into pieces. As his mind wondered, he start to wonder weather this change had been caused by more than what happened that day. Ever since that day, the picture of her begging eyes had bored into his soul everytime he shut his eyes or even thought about her. He knew he should've stuck up for her when everything went down and after seeing her today, it scared him to death that the side of her that he had missed was truly gone, especially if she was working with The Dark Order. As he looked up, he saw everyone staring at him and he quickly painted a smile on his face as he heard Cody state "earth to Dustin, did you just hear anything I just said?'
As the night went on, the feelings that both Nova and Marc were feeling for each other were getting stronger and they could both feel it. As he sat closer to her, he stated while running his fingers through her hair "you know, there's something about you I cant put my finger on. Your bilingual, stunning, Not an ass like your brothers, your Badass in the ring, amazing with animals, tough. You have to have a flaw somewhere" he joked as Nova laughed, leaning into his touch " some would say I am extremely critical of myself and stunning? you havent seen me in the mornings "she joked "You shouldnt be, You are......" and before he could finish, Marc leant in and lightly kissed the lips of the angel in front of him. Quickly realising what he had done, he pulled away and embarrassed said "I'm so sorry Novalee, after every..." and before he could say anything else, Nova straddled his lap and kissed him, this time a lot deeper and she felt him kiss her back, his hands working their way through her hair and down her back. Pulling away, she looked at him and he exclaimed "I dont know what kind of witchcraft you have done to me or how you are making me act like this after just meeting you tonight, but all I know Is that I fancy the ass of you" "and I you, not many people can get me to open up the way you have tonight" she replied before adding "we are both drunk though. I think we need sleep, then we can talk with clearer heads in the morning". As she got up,prying herself away from the mans embrace, the pair pecking each others lips, she saw him start to get comfy on the sofa and stated " I have a bed upstairs, that sofa isnt the best to sleep on. You'll be comfier up there" and before he could argue, she took his hand and dragged him with her, wiggling her hips slightly as the dogs rushed passed them to get to their beds.
As he wrapped his arms around the woman laying with him, Marc looked at the woman, now fast asleep in his embrace, her head on his chest and with a smile on his face, he whispered while running his hands through her hair, scratching her scalp "you will never have to go through what you have gone through alone again I promise you. No mattter what, I will always be by your side" and with that, he kissed her forehead and shut his eyes and drifted off, the smile still plastered on his face.
(A/N I have got my translations from Google translate so I'm not 100% sure if they are correct or not)
come la polla de burro, imbécil petulante-Eat donkey dick, you petulant jackass
Belle fille-Beautiful girl
elle est dure et dure-Tough and hard headed she is
cálmate cachorros, sé que los he extrañado a los dos también-calm it puppies, I know I have missed you both too
Also, if your enjoying this, please leave a comment, this is my first attempted fanfic project and would love some critique