Falling for the Perfect 10

Chapter 14: Wrestlemania

When Tye and I walked into the arena that night, hand in hand, knowing smiles were all around. The biggest smile came from Hunter who, upon hearing I was there, came to check on me.

"You scared us last night," he whispered as he hugged me carefully.

"I'm okay, Hunter. It happens. And it did what we wanted it to do. The reaction from the fans was what we wanted," I said as Hunter looked at me, proudly.

"You're right. I know that Nikki has been running around looking for you, wanting to check up on you. I need to talk to Tye about something so why don't you go find her and check in? She's blaming herself somehow."

I nodded and Tye kissed my cheek before he walked off to meet with Hunter. I smiled, having an idea what it would be about.

When I found Nikki she surprised me by hugging me fiercely and apologizing profusely. I laughed and looked at her. "It's okay, really. Accidents happen. It had nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, I know. It was just scary seeing you not move," she said.

I shrugged. "We played it off well."

She nodded. "Fans loved it," she said, waving at Killian Dane who nodded politely at me as he passed. "How is Tye?" She asked.

I looked at her, not having been prepared for the question. "He's okay, he's talking to Hunter now."

"Time for his call up?" She asked.

I nodded. "I think so. I'm sure they'll want to close out the storyline but I think he's debuting tomorrow or Tuesday."

She nodded. "You gonna be okay with that?"

I nodded, a smile on my lips. "We're okay now. Different schedules will be hard but it'll be worth it."

"Who would've thought that all we needed to do to get you two back together would be to put you through a table," she teased. We laughed together and I knew that I wasn't lying when I said it'd be worth it.

--

An hour later Tye found me in catering with Jose and Roderick, both of whom asked every five minutes if I was still okay. Tye came over and kissed the top of my head while standing behind my chair.

"I see you guys have taken over my line of questioning," he said.

They laughed and I turned to look at him, expectantly, waiting for the news.

"Guys, can I talk to Shanna?" he asked.

They nodded and stood, shaking hands with Tye and kissing my cheek before walking away. Tye took Roderick's abandoned seat and scooted it closer to me, taking my hands in his.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Hunter and I just talked, he had to ask me something."

"Okay..." I said, waiting, my smile growing.

"They want me on Smackdown."

I squealed and leaned forward, ignoring the burn in my ribs, as I hugged Tye. He laughed and hugged me back, carefully.

"So are you starting this week?" I asked, as I pulled back.

"That depends," he said.

"On what?"

"You."

"Me? What do you mean?" I asked, feeling my throat tighten.

Tye sighed and pulled my hands back into his and focused on them, as if they were fascinating. I waited for him to speak, letting him gather his thoughts.

"Shanna..." I squeezed his hands, hoping to encourage him.

"I don't want to mess us up," he started. "I'm afraid to go to Smackdown and lose you again because we won't be together all the time..."

I frowned and released his hands, reaching out and taking his face in my hands.

"You listen to me, Dillinger." I said, making my voice more serious. "This is your dream. Has been your dream since before you knew me. You are not going to mess up your dream because you're worried about distance. We both knew things like this could happen when we started dating. It's part of our careers."

"What if—"

"No, no what ifs. No doubts. You belong on the main roster Tye. You can't give that up for me. I won't let you."

Tye's voice was tight with emotion when he spoke again. "I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't," I said. "Tye, I wouldn't decide to be with you if I didn't think we could handle anything. I knew last night when we talked that today you might get called up.

"You did?"

I laughed. "Tye, Hunter and Regal have had your back for so many years. The fans love you. Of course it was going to happen. I mean, between NXT and Royal Rumble of course you were getting called up."

Tye smiled slightly and put his hands on my face, pulling me closer to him so that our foreheads were touching. "You're sure you're okay with this?"

"Of course I am. I'll miss you, yeah, but we can deal with that."

He smiled, a true smile then and kissed me. I kissed him back and we hugged, the excitement in Tye's body radiating off of him.

--

It was Tuesday night after Wrestlemania. I was backstage at Smackdown, waiting. Tye and I had parted ways fifteen minutes ago so he could have time to himself to gather his thoughts and get ready for his debut.

I stood holding hands with Becky backstage, looking at a monitor. Curt Hawkins was in the ring and when he said the line that was Tye's cue I took in a deep breath as his music hit.

It was loud...very loud. The crowd was screaming, cheering. People were jumping up and down. The ten chants filled the arena. Tye's match with Curt was flawless. Tye picked up the win. I clapped and cheered. When he came back he interviewed quickly about his debut and I could see the emotion building up in his eyes.

I bit my lip and watched as he finished the interview and, after shaking the hands he needed to shake, he came right to me and wrapped me in his arms, hugging me tightly.

I smiled and kissed his cheek, forehead and lips, squeezing him tightly. "It was perfect," I whispered.

He kept his head buried in my shoulder and I knew he needed a minute so we stayed still while he collected himself, his hands clutching the back of my shirt as his breathing evened out. When he pulled back to look at me his eyes were a little red but a smile was on his face.

"I can't believe it finally happened," he said.

I smiled and smoothed his hair out. "I'm proud of you."

His smile grew and he kissed me. Despite the road ahead of us I knew one thing was certain, we were in it together.