Absolute Smokeshow

Fights, Camera, Getting Some Action

You sunk into the couch, alone for the night until Marisol would inevitably crawl into bed and cuddle up to you around 4AM, freshly showered and exhausted from her shift. The food she left for you every day now included sweet, flirtatious comments on the accompanying notes that made you grin from ear to ear. Almost a week of staying at Mari's and each day seemed better than the last.
The TV was set to NXT while you packed a bowl and had a snack, but the show was currently on a commercial. There had only been brief mention of a special match tonight for the main event, but your girlfriend had yet to appear onscreen for the promo.
Since she hadn't communicated with you last night in the same way that she had asked you to, your anxiety was making you doubt how she felt about you. Logically, you knew this was ridiculous - that your girlfriend had honestly forgotten to mention her dalliance with Cathy in the heat of the moment. But your anxiety never paid much attention to logic.
At least you had the relief of knowing that the more shows WWE aired, the more people would focus on other storylines, and the closer you were to becoming old news. You were looking forward to the day that you could go out in public again without possibly being recognized.

When the commercials ended, an empty ring was shown for a moment before Rhea's theme started, purple and black dominating every screen in the place. She was as beautiful as ever, doing her signature stomp before raising her title belt and smirking at the camera. Casually taking your first post-work hit from Mari's bong, your eyes remained fixed to the screen as your girlfriend strutted over to the ring. When the camera cut to a closer view of her, you noticed that Rhea had drawn two entwined Venus symbols where she usually had three hearts. Did something happen between her and Dom?
A moment later, Rhea called Jacy Jayne out to the ring. You quietly booed at the television when the graphics changed and Jacy emerged with Thea Hail. Even though Thea didn't look nearly as uncomfortable as she had when you last saw her, you couldn't help but feel guilty for not doing more to draw the attention of others to Jacy's toxicity.
Thankfully, your girlfriend seemed to be doing a fine job of it - until you saw what Thea handed her tag partner.

Watching the tabloid photo of you and Rhea light up the big screen was a surreal experience - in the worst way.
So much for people forgetting about me, you thought, pulse quickening as you took a particularly large hit and tried to ignore the accusations Jacy was throwing at your girlfriend. The latter proved to be impossible, until the photo was replaced with a video. You forgot your anxiety and your jaw dropped upon seeing Dom and JD kiss and grope each other.
Good for him, was your first thought, remembering how JD had taken to moping like a sad puppy whenever Finn and Damian were around. This thought was immediately followed by a question:
What was going through your girlfriend's mind now?
Rhea, interestingly enough, didn't seem surprised at all by the information that Dom and JD had probably had sex - which answered your other, earlier question: she had likely been told after the two men had spent the night together, possibly even while she had been doing her makeup before the show. At best, Rhea had mixed feelings about the situation. Jacy's taunting didn't seem to be helping.

It wasn't long before your girlfriend was facing Jacy in the ring. You watched the match intently, curious to see how many moves you could recognize now that you were actually educating yourself on wrestling. The match began with an exchange of powerful blows (you excitedly identified a clothesline at one point) and submission holds. You found yourself at the edge of your seat; at first, the two women seemed almost equally matched. Rhea, however, was clearly putting more force into her technique and could endure more than what was being thrown at her. You cheered seeing her break out of another hold and shove Jacy away, all in one fluid motion.

When Rhea had turned the tables again, there was a moment where you were sure she had the match won - but she kept her opponent in a submission hold, eyes fixed on her pained expression. Why wasn't she finishing with a riptide and pinning her for the count?
You flinched as you watched your girlfriend stomp on Jacy's outstretched arm. This wasn't like her. Sure, Rhea was known for her ruthlessness, but this was more brutality than you had ever seen your girlfriend put into a fight.
Was she channeling the anger she was feeling when she found out both of her partners had slept with someone new recently? Toward the paparazzi and others who were quick to publicize her private life? Or was she, perhaps, actually angry at herself for letting it all get to her?

-

Rhea stared at the bouquet of violets being offered, unsure how to react. Noticing her hesitation, Dominik decided to speak up.
"Lo siento," he said earnestly, "I'm sorry. We were drunk last night, but I still should've let you know what was happening."
Rhea softened a bit at his remorse, uncrossing her arms and allowing herself to feel a wave of sadness.
"... How long have you wanted to be with him?" she whispered, turning away for fear she would show just how much this had affected her.
"What? No, it's not like that," Dom reassured her, "I didn't even think about it until JD was talking last night. He was pining over Finn and- well, you know how much I like blue eyes and accents."

Rhea smiled at that, turning back around to finally accept the flowers. Dominik couldn't help but grin as he watched her bring them up to her nose to take in the fragrance.
"Y'know, if we're being honest, I haven't been the best at communicating either," she admitted, eyes fixed on the petals as she gently stroked one with her nail, "...I fucked Cathy last night."
"I figured," Dom said, smile unwavering when Rhea looked up, surprised, as he continued, "For the record, you don't have to let me know until after you're with someone new. I just like knowing you're happy. And if I need to get tested."
After a pause, he quickly added, "But I'll do better next time letting you know before I do anything with someone new."

Rhea smiled, plucking a violet from the bouquet and tucking it behind Dom's ear. She admired her work for a moment before pulling him into a hug, whispering, "I love you."
"Te amo también," he whispered back, holding her close with a ferocity, as if he had almost lost her. Dom seemed to almost consider not letting go when Rhea pulled away, but feeling the warmth of her fingers interlocking with his immediately after they parted put him at ease. Rhea led him by the hand to the locker room, too busy trying to figure out how much time they would have alone to notice Dom shooing away the camera that had been recording other backstage activity. He shut the door before they could attempt to follow, Rhea reaching over to lock it before turning Dom to face her and pinning him to the wall.

-

It was a relief to see that Rhea and Dom had worked things out. Your heart swelled with happiness seeing a flash of the two of them holding hands before they disappeared into the locker room. As much as you wished you could join them, the distance meant you had to take your phone out instead and message them both in your collective group chat:
"Have fun making up!"
You ended the message with a winking emoji.

After other stars' promos and a few commercials ended, the screen faded in on Rhea standing by Dominik, who was being interviewed. As he answered a couple of questions about an upcoming title defense, you noticed there was now a Mars symbol on your girlfriend's cheek, entwined with one of the Venus symbols. The NXT North American Champion himself was shamelessly covered in smudged black lipstick prints, exuding confidence with Rhea at his side - until the interviewer changed topics.
"So is this the first... encounter you've had with JD McDonagh?"

He gave the microphone that now pointed at him a confused look before replying, "Uh, yeah. So?"
"What I'm getting at is," the woman continued, "What have you been doing when Rhea and her girlfriend are-"
"That's enough," Rhea pushed the mic away from an increasingly uncomfortable-looking Dominik and pointed it at herself before snarling, "Unless you have any more relevant  questions, this interview is over."
The woman waited with a raised brow until Dom and Rhea walked out of earshot before speaking directly at the camera:
"Well, we'll let you speculate on what those three get up to on their off hours, but it looks like Dominik Mysterio's "Dirty" moniker might refer to more than just the way he fights."

It seemed like you would be a topic of conversation for a while longer than you'd thought.

Fuck.