Playing With Fire

Part 13

Sorry it took so long, but here it is the final part and epilogue for Playing With Fire. Enjoy!

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He could hear the sounds of her giggling with Sasha and it made him smile. She'd been so happy lately, and he knew part of it was that she was carrying a title again for the first time in well over a year, but he'd like to think he'd had at least a little bit to do with it too.

He still had to take a step back every now and then to remind himself that this was real. After all he'd been in love with his girl for over four years and had been certain that there was no hope of ever having the feeling returned. He hadn't even wanted her to know. He'd been so careful to hide it, afraid that if she found out that it would hurt her, but fate had intervened, and thank god for that.

Now knowing what it was like to hold her, kiss her, and make her scream with his name on her lips, he didn't want to even think about how close he came to missing out on this. If it hadn't been for the fact that he talked in his sleep, that apparently the influence of painkillers made him spill his guts without a second thought, if it hadn't been for the fact that his girl was so brave and strong and willing to face her fears.

He couldn't even bear to think about it how easily things could have gone the other way. Not when he knew that she would be riding home with him tonight, when despite the fact that she had her own apartment, he thought of his home as theirs (something that had never happened with his previous girlfriend, and they'd dated for over two years where as he and Bayley had only been together a few months), and certainly not when he knew her dogsitter on a first name basis. He'd been the one to pick up Flex more often than not lately, knowing it would get his girl home to him that much faster.

He wouldn't trade this for anything, even if they made him give up his title tomorrow and he never held another title ever again. Some things in life were more important and waking up to her sweet face snuggled into his chest was worth more than all of the titles in the world.

Still it was amazing to think how different things were from just a few months ago. They hadn't won the mixed match challenge, something he still regretted a little because they'd gotten so incredibly close, and he could still picture just how amazing that would have been. If he hadn't gotten sick he was sure they would have pulled it off, but then he would remember how upset she was that he'd been sent home to recuperate and she couldn't go with him. She hadn't cared one bit about the loss, just about him getting better, and if his girl could let it go so easily then who was he to complain.

The loss hadn't hurt them in the long run either, in fact both of their careers had been on the upswing in recent months. He'd finally gotten a match against Brock Lesnar, and yeah he hadn't won, but he'd proven that he could go toe to toe with the beast, reminded the world that he was a force to be reckoned with, and then at Elimination chamber, on the same night he and his girl had finally captured titles again. Funny how even when their careers weren't directly linked they always seemed to be on the same wavelength. And while he'd been busy dealing with the endlessly annoying duo she'd been making history again, becoming one half of the inaugural women's tag team champions.

He remembered watching on the backstage monitors as they'd fought to make their dreams come true. Seth had watched intently with him, both of them excited and worried for their friends. They knew Sasha's shoulder wasn't a hundred percent yet, and of course he'd been twice as worried, and not just because they were his friends. He knew Bayley in and out, knew how protective she was of Sasha. He was afraid she would do something stupid to save her, but he shouldn't have been. He'd almost forgotten that Sasha could be just as protective of Bayley, and their strength was in that loyalty to each other.