(Un)Break me - Rhea Ripley x reader

The usual unusual

a/n: can you believe i wrote this chapter FOUR times? And i hated all of them but before i decided to throw my laptop out the window i settled for this version (WHICH IS STILL MEH) -- stresses in fanfic author anyway how are you people of the interna doing?

Baby, I'm learning a new way of thinking. I can see nothing will be just like it was

Y/N's POV

During the flight, you were finding it hard to sleep (as per usual), due to your familiar inner turmoil.

You felt lost. As per usual.

It was as if you were left standing on quicksand, like this seemingly stable thing would crumble entirely under your feet and engulf you in darkness at any given moment. It is your standard behavior, afterall: distancing yourself so you can see the worst coming.

Perhaps Rhea noticed your quietness, but didn't mention anything. She would only give you a few looks every now and then to see if you were ok. In fact, you two took turns in doing so. Rhea herself was a bit quieter than usual today.

While you watched some random movie on your phone, you could see from the corner of your eye how Rhea was repeatedly flipping through the pictures she took with her family the past few days.

"They are a nice bunch." Your voice was only loud enough for her to listen. You could finally understand why it was hard for her to be away from her family.

They're nothing like yours, you think.

"They are!" You cuddle beside her.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to meet your family. It meant a lot to me that you're comfortable sharing this part of your life with me." Maybe it was something ordinary for Rhea but for you it was a big deal, so you needed her to know how you felt about it. More importantly, Rhea needed to know how important it was to you that she trusted you like this. That she loved you enough to do this.

"I think they would kill me if I didn't introduce you."

"You do really talk that much about me, huh?" Your speech is weird as your cheek is squished against her shoulder. Any millimeter your body is away from hers feels too far right now.

"Calista rolls her eyes each time I mention your name, my nonna loves hearing about 'the cute redhead that swooped me from my feet' though." Rhea forces an accent which you can only assume to be an imitation of her grandma's. You laughed.

The conversation ended there. With neither of you being in the mood for talking, each one with your own internal storms to deal with.

She knew that it was hard for you when things fell outside of the thick lines of the patterns you were used to. And you knew goodbyes were hard on her. She felt the separation deeply. Though she'd try her best to dismiss it, you could see through her cracks: the thought of staying away from those she loved brought up a stingy feeling she couldn't ignore.

You interlace your finger with hers as the thought occurs, in hopes that Rhea understands she's not alone. Ever.

She leans on your shoulder and you both stay like that until the plane lands. The exhaustion from the trip slowly sinks on both of you. You didn't talk much through the rest of the day, finding all the comfort you needed simply in each other's presence, so it doesn't feel awkward when you go to sleep with your backs turned to one another, since the tiredness had already washed over you.

The next day, though, you two wake up feeling better and you warn Rhea that you wanted to tell her about your past and your family so she would be aware of the possible fire hazard.