Another Life l Rhea Ripley x Female OC fic

Just Friends

As I got to Raw, I really only had one goal for tonight: Talk to Rhea. I know that, at this point, both of us are struggling and tonight it just all needs sorted out and dealt with.

I can talk to her.

It'll be fine.

I'll be fine.

Right?

I made my way inside and walked through the back hallways, searching for the door labeled with her name. One I found it I... stood outside trying to catch my breath again to have this conversation.

Fuck. Why is this so hard?

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh

Before I could think too hard about it, the door opened before me revealing a very broken down, and very sexy, Rhea Ripley.

"Oh, shit. Umm, hi." I awkwardly stammered with my words, trying to think of an excuse of why I was just casually standing outside her dressing room door.

"Oh, hey. I was going to find you." I look up at her when she says this, confused but also a bit relieved at the possibility that we want to see each other for the same reason and make this 1000x easier on both of us. This idea was quickly eliminated when she conjured up a coffee from behind her back and held it out to me. "I got you coffee, you still get an Iced expresso with almond milk and a shot of salted caramel syrup, right?"

I blush as she lists out the exact order I still get, and have gotten since grade 9. "Yes, yea, I do." I take the coffee from her hand. "Thank you." She smiles and I take a sip, smiling back at her.

I can't believe she still remembers my order. It's been years and she still remembers? She still cares enough to remember? The thoughts made my heart melt.

Her throat clearing brought me back to reality. "Shit, sorry. Umm, I think we should talk." I spat out as an explaination for why I was standing there. It was the correct reason but still.

She nodded and stepped to the side so I could come in. I walked paced her and took a seat on the far end of the couch in her dressing room so that she could sit wherever she felt comfortable, which apparently was the other side of the couch. She took a seat and simply turned to allow me the opportunity to speak. She seemed to be in a calm and resonable mood today. Maybe she really was keeping her promise and taking her meds.

Hopefully.

"I know a lot is going on and we've been stressing each out and there's always tension, so I think it would be beneficial if we just agreed to be friends. I think it would help us both, and allow the comfort, without any responsibility or commitment." I say the words quickly and get it over with. I don't want to be her friend but it won't work any other way.

Her face drops for a milisecond before she reapplies the mask and smiles at me. That beautiful smile.

"Okay, I- I think that could work." She stammers a bit, trying to cover her feelings up.

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay." I return the smile.

(PAST)

Demi and I have been hanging out a lot more. She's pretty cool for being younger. Recently we've started hanging out outside of school too which is fun. I think she's become my best friend. Today we decided to go see a new horror movie that just came out, though I was paying more attention to Demi then I was the actual movie.

Demi is so pretty, and funny, and just... perfect. But that's normal to think that way about your best friend... right?

Fuck.

Who am I kidding? I'm like her. I'm in love with her. I don't want to be her friend, I want to kiss her lips.

Fuck.

I throw my head into my hands and let out an audible groan. I can feel Demi's eyes follow my movement.

"What's wrong?" She asks, her voice so sweet and caring.

"I like you." I blurt out the words, immediately wanting to shove them back down my throat.

"What?" Her face contorts into a look of confusion and embarrassment. I fucked all of this up. Shit. She doesn't feel the same. Of course she doesn't.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." I throw my head back into my hands, that is until she slowly pries one of them away and holds onto it. I slowly look up at her.

She smiles, her big, bright, beautiful smile. "No, no. It's okay. I- I like you too." She blushes and giggles just a little bit.

"What?" My back straightens, I can't help but my face light up as she admits the mutual attraction.

"I have since we first met. Since that day on the track. You were so nice and pretty, but honestly I thought you were straight and I didn't want to make it awkward. I figured it would be better to be friends with you than to lose you all together. I didn't want to say anything." She confesses her feelings. The same feelings I feel about her. The same thoughts, now that I think about it.

"Really? So I didn't just ruin everything by saying that?  I didn't just make you super uncomfortable and make you never want to talk to me again? I mean, I can just leave, it'll be better. I'm so sor-," my words were cut off by the feeling of her lips against mine, the sweet taste of her.

She pulls back just enough for us to see each others faces. "No, Ris. Stay. Really."

(PRESENT)

I think that conversation went well. I think it'll be okay.

Raw goes by as normal and everything seems good. Better. Peaceful.

After the show, as I'm leaving, I get a text from Damian.

Damian: We need you, por favor. I haven't seen her like this in years and there's no one else. She's pushing everyone else away. She wants you.

Fuck.

Of course I know who he's talking about. I text him quickly to find their location and sprint there. All the guys are standing around her, trying to help but being pretty much assaulted in the process.

Rhea is crouched on the ground, tears streaming down her face, her breathing audibly unsteady. She's screaming and hitting and shaking and sobbing. Clearly she's not okay.

I approach her quickly, stepping in front of the guys and taking her hands in mine, stopping them from hitting anyone else.

She looks at me, broken down and tired once again. "I can't do this. I can't be like this. All I can think about is the movies. That first kiss. The hotel. The track. The soccer games. I can't be just friends again. I can't start over." She basically screams out the words, falling into me and sobbing as she says them.

Well, fuck.

Here we go again.