Wrestling One-Shots Volume 5

Marcel Barthel

You arrive at the arena for Smackdown and head straight for the locker room. Valentine's Day is coming up in just a few days, and you have been curving potential suitors for the past week.

You make it to the same hallway of the locker room of the Brawling Brutes when someone taps you on the shoulder.

"Huh?!" You are startled as you turn around, but relax when you see that it's just Ridge. "Oh, Ridge. It's just you."

"Yeah, it's just me." Ridge nods. "Were you expecting someone else?" He asks you.

You shake your head. "No, I- It's fine, Ridge. Don't worry about it." You assure him.

"Alright." Ridge nods and steps forward to open the locker room door for you.

You thank him and step inside where Butch is already hanging out and waiting for the show to start. Butch looks up from his phone when the door opens and smiles at you.

"Afternoon, Y/N." He greets you. "How've you been?" He asks you.

"Fine, Butch. Thanks." You nod with a small smile. "How are you?" You ask him back.

Butch shrugs and gets up from his seat. "I've been fine, love. Thanks." He turns and picks up a bouquet of roses from the table. "Here, these are for you." He hands you the flowers.

"Oh, Butch..." You take the roses. "Really? You didn't need to get me a gift." You assure him sheepishly.

"What?" Butch chuckles. "Oh! They're not from me, love." He informs you. "One of the interns dropped them off for you a little while ago. Here, they came with a card."

You take the card with your free hand and shake your head in embarrassment. "Right, sorry." You quickly apologize and briefly read the card.

"No problem." Butch chuckles again. "Who are they from?" He leans closer to you curiously.

You read the card but find no indication of who the roses are from. The card simply reads, 'A beautiful bunch of roses for a woman whose beauty knows no bounds. Please enjoy them <3'

"It doesn't say who they are from." You frown and walk over to the table so you can set the gift down.

"That's odd." Ridge replies. "Why wouldn't they want you to know who it's from?" He asks.

Butch nods in agreement. "Yeah, I agree. I recognize the logo on the back of the card. These arrangements are expensive."

"Are they?" You sigh. "Damn, I was hoping to avoid all of this stuff this year." You sit down.

"Really?" Ridge sits down next to you. "What? Are you allergic to flowers or something?" He asks you.

You shake your head and pull one of the roses out of the arrangement to sniff it. "No, I actually really love them." You admit. "But my last Valentine's Day was a disaster. And I was hoping to just ignore the whole holiday this year."

Ridge and Butch share a look but chose not to push you about it at the moment. Everyone goes back to their own business for the moment and wait for the show to start.

Later in the night, you are walking backstage with Ridge and Butch on the way out to the ring. You stop at the top of the ramp and let the pair head down to the ring while you hang out backstage.

You aren't backstage for long when Gunther and his Imperium brothers roll up and walk over to you.

"Hello, Y/N" Gunther greets you with a friendly-enough look.

"Hey, Gunther." You nod back to him. "Do you guys have a match after Butch and Ridge?" You ask him.

Gunther shakes his head and glances at Marcel standing next to him. "No, that's not why we are here." He informs you.

"Oh." You reply. "Okay. Was there something that I could help you with then?" You ask him.

Before Gunther can reply, Marcel steps in front of his leader with an apologetic smile. "No. I was the one that wanted to speak with you." He explains. "Sorry for the inconvenience. We didn't mean to ambush you like this. But I didn't want Ridge and Butch getting in the way."

"Oh." You reply, a bit on edge now.

Marcel notices you tense up and realizes that his explanation might have come off a bit threatening. "Wait! I didn't mean it like that!" He assures you. "It's just...I asked one of the interns working backstage to deliver you a package." He explains. "And I remembered that I'd forgotten to sign the card."

"That was you?" You reply with a bit of shock.

"Yes." Marcel nods. "Did you like the flowers? I wasn't sure what to send you, so I went a bit basic with the gift."

"They were beautiful, Marcel." You crack a small smile. "Thank you. It was very thoughtful of you. And the card was very sweet." You assure him.

Marcel looks relieved to hear your positive news. But he can also tell that you still seem a bit reserved.

"Forgive me, but you seem a bit off, Y/N." Marcel gently confronts you. "Is everything okay? You know you don't have to lie to me. If I've made you uncomfortable in any way."

"No! It's not that." You shake your head. "It's just. I kind of went through a really bad breakup right around Valentine's Day last year." You explain.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Marcel apologizes.

You feel bad at the look of worry on Marcel's face. His gift was beautiful and the note was so adorable. Not to mention, you've always thought that Marcel was charming and handsome.

"Please, don't apologize." You reach out and touch Marcel's arm. "I loved the gift, Marcel. And I am honored that you'd chose me out of all the women that you work with to give a gift to."

"Are you sure?" Marcel asks you one last time.

"Yes." You smile to yourself at his politeness. "And I think that it's time for me to get back out there." You inform him. "If you're free on Valentine's Day, I'd love to get dinner with you."

A dashing smile cracks on Marcel's face and he nods "I'd love that as well." He grins. "I guess that I'll talk with you more about this later then. Have a nice rest of your night, doll." He leans down and kisses your cheek gently.

Marcel and his Imperium buddies walk off just as Ridge and Butch come back from the ring. Both of them see the heavy blush on your cheeks and share a look.

"You okay, Y/N?" Ridge asks you.

"Yeah." You nod with a smile. "The flowers were from Marcel, by the way." You inform him and Butch.