Demons Don't Dream

Part 2

Sasha had been calling her a lot lately, and she sounded lonely. Like maybe being on the main roster wasn't everything she thought it would be, like maybe she actually missed her. She knew Sasha well, knew how defensive she could get, knew how she'd scratch and claw her way out when backed into a corner and to hell with whoever got caught in the crossfire, but why her sometimes friend, sometimes enemy was calling her of all people was still a mystery. She didn't mind. It was actually kind of nice, but kind of weird too.

Weird had almost become the norm for her lately. She had not been prepared for how much holding the title would change her life. Oh she'd known there would be more responsibility, that she would be expected to be a leader, that she'd have a lot less free time, but she hadn't realized it would completely change the way people interacted with her. She was a fairly easy going person, and she'd always been friendly with most of the roster, but she was not the popular, social-butterfly type. She didn't get invited to parties or to go shopping (not that she would have wanted to). She liked video games, would rather buy wrestling merch than shoes or makeup, and would rather have homemade mexican and cheap beer than go to an expensive restraunt.

She was used to being the girl that nobody noticed, and now suddenly everyone wanted her around. She had to do interviews, dress up, do charity events. Some of it was fun, and Mella had a blast helping her buy clothes that were suitable for those types of things, but she missed her quiet little life more than she thought she would.

She wasn't used to being a target either. Many of the newer girls looked to her for advice, which she enjoyed, but the rest of the women's roster looked at her as a stepping stone. She was in the way of getting what they wanted, and they didn't hesitate to make it clear that they didn't consider her worthy of her position. So far she'd managed to hold her own, but the constantly being on edge, always having to look over her shoulder was wearing on her.

As far as her encounter with the demon was concerned, she'd been trying to forget it had even happened. Surely she'd imagined how dark his eyes had been, the feel of a claw on her cheek, and the way she'd felt afterward--somehow turned on and terrified at the same time. There had to be a rational explanation for it. She'd been riding an emotional high, delirious from a lack of sleep and crashing off an adrenaline rush. Her memory had to be playing tricks on her.

Finn was a nice guy from what little she'd seen of him, but outside of being co-workers, she didn't have a lot of opportunity to interact with him. When she did, no matter how much she'd tried to rationalize that night away, she couldn't help but freeze up when he got near her. She didn't want to embarrass herself, and she definitely didn't want any of her more vindictive co-workers to think she had a crush on him, so it was easier to just avoid him altogether, but she could feel his eyes on her whenever they were in the same room, watching her, waiting on something, even if she wasn't sure what.

...

"Do I make you nervous?" the soft irish accent shouldn't have startled her, but it did. She hadn't realized he was so close. She'd been concentrating hard on her form, and he'd been careful to wait until she'd dropped the bar back to the ground, but she still felt like her heart was in her throat as she jerked her head up to see him standing there.

"Huh?"

"Why does it always feel like you're running away from me?"

"I don't know, I mean, I'm not. I mean, um, sorry, what?" she said in a rush, her nervousness betraying the lie in her words.

"So you're not avoiding me then?"

"Um, no, of course not."

"Bayley..." his voice trailed off as he looked at her and stepped even closer. His face was puzzled, like he was trying hard to figure out the answer to something. He continued to stare at her for a moment, but when she volunteered no further response he continued,

"Did the demon scare you? He didn't mean too." She really hadn't expected him to say that.

"What?"

"We weren't trying to frighten you. If I'd realized that would scare you I would have made him wait. He's not very patient, but I should have held him back."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do know," he said a look of almost dissapointment flashed across his face, "You can't lie to me love, we can smell it." His response startled her and the way he was looking at made her feel antsy, her hair standing on end, her chest tight.

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. Everything." He sounded frustrated, though it seemed to be directed internally. His eyes flashed dark for a moment before he sighed, "I just want to talk to you, to get to know you."

"And, um, your demon? What does he want?"

"What he wants is irrelevant for now. I can control him. Until I know you better, until you know me well enough to trust me, well, he'll get over it."

"I don't understand."

"I know. I'm sorry. We went about this all wrong," he sighed again and paused for a moment before he looked up at her, "Can you please just not run away from me all of the time?"

She didn't know what to say. She was still having trouble processing that this was real, but the intensity of his gaze, the clear blue staring into her almost pitifully, she felt the urge to reassure him, to give him something, so she said,

"I can try I guess."