𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘛𝘖𝘋𝘈𝘠 | RHEA RIPLEY

𝓒 ᴴᴬᴾᵀᴱᴿ 21 | not today

"Toni and I are leaving to the UK tomorrow,"

"What? Tomorrow?"

Alex stood staring right at Rhea through the mirror they were before as Rhea sat up on the bench after Alex helped her put the weight on the rack.

Their eyes turned to lock onto each other's as Alex no longer had to look at her through the mirror. They had been in the gym for only a little while, or maybe it could've been more than that since Alex was preoccupied with helping Rhea and doing some workouts she actually could do.

She wasn't really worrying about time, she was more focused on being there with Rhea because it reminded her of the old days.

"Yeah, we got called over to do some tapings over there regarding the championship. We might stay over there for a few weeks." This wasn't anything new really since both Toni and Rhea left at times to do tapings but that was before when Rhea didn't stay with Alex.

And although it had only been a couple of weeks, she found herself becoming accustomed to Rhea being in her apartment with her.

It was weird, it felt weird to her but then again, she wasn't exactly shocked.

"How many?" Alex questioned, seeing Rhea shrug her shoulders as she broke the eye contact to look at herself in the mirror, only to meet Alex's eyes again.

"Two, maybe three."

Alex hummed in acknowledgment, trying her best not to show she was bothered by that fact, as she took this time to glance away whilst Rhea decided to get up from the bench, "I hope you won't miss me too much," Alex heard her tone within it, which caused her to instantly look back at her.

She was met with a playful smile on Rhea's lips, seeing her eyebrow raised as well, and there was possibly no way she was speaking in the flirty tone Alex took it as.

That is exactly why she paused, taking a second before a smile began to form upon her own lips, "Miss you?"

Rhea's slight grin and the tone in her voice - - it was suggestive for Alex to deal with and she didn't understand it because of course, they joked with one another but it was more like insulting each other.

However, this - - this was a bit much, but Alex couldn't say she didn't like it.

"How could I not miss you?" Her smile was now apparent completely and she watched Rhea become a bit flustered, her eyes looking away from Alex's as her grin remained as well. She seemed to like Alex's response and Alex was fully aware of that.

And it was adorable to witness her become somewhat embarrassed due to Alex's words. It's been a long while since that has happened too, which is why it took Alex by surprise.

Rhea then cleared her throat, her grin disappearing, "Come on, let's get out of here. I've kept you up on your leg for long enough, so let me take you home,"

"Wait," Rhea went to go retrieve her bag, though Alex grabbed her hand to prevent her from walking away.

This is when Rhea turned back around and Alex met her eyes, and she couldn't stand the fact that she unintentionally got lost within them every time she looked into them, "You have one more set to do. We can't leave until you do it," She managed to get her words out after stumbling on them at the beginning of her sentence.

Though, her words earned a questioning look from Rhea as she let out a breath, "Does it really matter if I do it or not? It's just one set,"

"Yes. To me, it does," Alex replied, instantly, and she had a reason for it. She and Rhea used to continually push each other in the past, only because they wanted each other to become the best they can be, so skipping sets or taking shortcuts was a big no in either of their books.

She wasn't going to start letting Rhea do it now, no matter how different their relationship is from their past.

"Well, I'm not doing it because you need to go home to rest your leg. Like I said, I've kept you here long enough."

She then watched Rhea's hand slip out of her grip and she walked to where her bag was, putting its strap around her shoulder where she took another look at Alex.

"Why are you still standing there? Let's go, we're leaving." She made her attitude very known whilst Alex stood staring at her, knowing she was going to object anyway, which she ended up doing.

She sat down on the bench and she heard Rhea loudly huff in annoyance, "Alex, come on, don't make this difficult,"

Alex shrugged her shoulders in a non-caring gesture, "No, you need to finish up your set and then, we'll go." She crossed her arms and stood seated on the bench, looking away for a slight second where she then looked back at Rhea to see the unamused grin curving onto her lips.

"I already said I don't need to and this is the last time I'm going to say it," Rhea spoke in her threatening tone but all it did was humor Alex, her lips curving into her own grin, which is something Rhea took note of, "Look, I don't give a damn about leaving you here, so if you don't get up in three seconds, I am leaving."

Her threat didn't hold any weight toward Alex as she didn't care whilst Rhea stood there for exactly three seconds before turning around and beginning to walk out.

Alex simply watched her do so because, in a sense, she knew she wasn't going to leave where afterward, she had seen Rhea stop in her tracks.

She turned around, her eyes locking right onto Alex's even from the distance they were at, "I really can't believe how hard you're making this - -

"All you have to do is finish your last set," Another exasperated sigh left Rhea's lips after her interruption and Alex liked seeing how Rhea didn't walk out like she threatened, she remained fighting and Alex couldn't let that thought slip by.

But she continued, "It's what we used to do. We always pushed each other to finish sets, not leave them undone - -

"But that was in the past - -

Rhea had stopped herself this time, she managed to look away when she did and that didn't give Alex enough time to analyze her expression because she acknowledged their past.

It obviously seemed like she didn't mean to, but Rhea was continually on point with her denial so for her to slip up, it wasn't something Alex could ignore.

And clearly, Alex wanted acknowledgment of their past with one another and this was seemingly the first time it was recognized.

Rhea took a deep, loud breath in and that caught Alex's attention whilst she raised her eyebrow as Rhea looked at her with a bothered yet genuinely nervous look on her expression. She didn't say a word, she simply dropped her bag and walked over back to Alex, "Let's get this over with."

Alex then got up as a small, appreciative grin placed itself on her lips.

Her eyes watched Rhea begin to sit down but it wasn't until Rhea pointed her finger at Alex right in her face, "But let this be the last time you do this because you don't get to tell me what the hell to do," Her intimidating nature came back but Alex could see the worriment in her eyes, it was too apparent to overlook.

Though, Alex decided not to bring up what was said and what she had seen because now wasn't the time. She knew she was, but just not now.

However, what she did do was raised her arms up in defense and allowed her lips to remain in a grin, "Yes, ma'am," Her playful tone caused Rhea to roll her eyes and suck her teeth before she sat and laid down on the bench, positioning herself for the set as did Alex to spot her.

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