Flames

Bear Hug, part 2

"Here's to the real main event!" Sasha popped open a bottle of champagne and poured it into the waiting glasses of her fellow Four Horsewomen. Their tag match hadn't closed out the night, but it had easily got the best response from the crowd.

"It's not beer with Stone Cold," Charlotte quipped, slinging an arm around Becky's shoulders, "but it'll have to do. He has different drinking partners tonight."

Becky shrugged and laughed, hugging Charlotte with her free arm. "But I got to drink beer with him and drop him in the ring, so I win." She raised her glass so they could all toast. "Thank you for the excellent match, ladies. It's been way too long." She still saw Bayley in the gym, but it had been ages since she'd wrestled Sasha.

"Nothing better than tearing down the house with my girls." Sasha hugged Bayley close, bookends to Charlotte and Becky on the other side of the narrow hallway. After they had done their separate interviews and were free for the night, they found a quiet corner where they wouldn't have to worry about stray cameras. The brass could hardly build up a Four Horsewomen feud if they were all seen hugging and drinking together. "I missed you all so fucking much." Then she planted a loud kiss on Bayley's cheek. "Well, except this nerd. She had put up with me the whole time."

"Just try getting rid of me," Bayley grinned, resting her head on Sasha's shoulder. "Especially now. The rumours about the Faux Horsewomen are kicking up again. Think they'll get them over in time for Wrestlemania?"

"Most fans can't even name all four of them," Charlotte laughed. "It's like Ronda and Shayna and . . . the other two? Maybe we can try to get something going with Asuka again. She's so good. I don't know why they're wasting her."

"Sonya too!" Bayley piped. "Hell, even Mandy's improving, even if they are giving her sucky promos. And Naomi's way overdue for a good feud. . . ."

"Or we could say fuck Vince and go crash NXT." Becky grinned as the other three women looked at her. They had each had very different paths to the WWE, but NXT was where it all really started for all of them. It would be a fitting way to bring the Four Horsewomen back together, with the bonus of getting more eyes on NXT and its amazing female talent. "If they didn't have us feuding now, that would have been an awesome thing to do when NXT goes to network TV."

"Don't say that!" Bayley gave a small pout. "Now I'm just going to think about how cool that would have been."

The champagne was soon forgotten and the women spent more time chatting than drinking, congratulating Becky again on her engagement and teasing Charlotte about a possible impending ring for her. It wasn't until Natalya approached, dressed in street clothes and ready to leave, that they sat up: Bayley had her head in Sasha's lap and Becky was leaning back against Charlotte. "Hey, girls. Killer match tonight. You totally should have been in the viewing room, though."

Becky knew Seth's match was on last, but she wanted to spend some time with her friends; according to the script, nothing super out of the ordinary was slated to happen, but Vince was now famous—more like infamous—for his last-minute changes. "What happened?" A worm of worry niggled at her and she started to rise, but Charlotte held her in place.

"Oh, nothing bad. Don't worry." Then Natalya broke out laughing. "They were chanting Becky's husband at Seth. It was priceless. Now the guys finally know what it was like for me and the Bellas. . . ."

Charlotte wrapped her arms even tighter around Becky, laughing against her shoulder. "I'm totally calling him that now."

"Don't." But Becky was laughing too, so hard she couldn't catch her breath. Bayley and Sasha were doing the same, Bayley's face going bright pink.

As the laughter died away, Natalya set her bag on the floor. "You guys all look so happy. It's great to see. I should take a picture for you."

"My phone's back in the locker room," Bayley groused, the other three women nodding in agreement. They hadn't bothered changing yet; their time together was rare, so they didn't want to waste it.

Natalya waved it off. "That's fine." She pulled her phone out of her bag and went to her camera app. "I have all your numbers. I'll just send you the pictures after."

"You're the best, Nattie." Sasha and Bayley scooted over to join Charlotte and Becky and the four of them posed for a series of increasingly silly pictures. When Natalya turned the phone around so they could see the shots, Sasha dabbed at her eyes. "Can I get one serious shot of us, guys? Just one? I know we aren't sharing any of these, but I want one for me."

"Of course. Get up, wifey." Charlotte stood and pulled Becky along with her.

"I liked it better on the floor," Becky quipped. "We were all closer in height then."

The Four Horsewomen huddled close so Natalya could take a few more pictures. "That's too many to text," Natalya said after. "I'll email them instead, okay? Tomorrow, though. I'm beat."

"Sure, Nattie. Thanks so much." Sasha hugged her first and then the rest of the Four joined in. "Have a good night."

After Natalya left, the Four Horsewomen almost sank back down to the floor, but Charlotte spotted someone else approaching. "Oh, look! It's Becky's husband!"

Becky felt her cheeks ignite. "Char, stop it."

But Sasha and Bayley took up the chant too, of course, with Bayley doing the customary stomp and Sasha drumming out the extra clapping part on an equipment trunk. "Becky's husband! Becky's husband! Becky's husband!"

Drenched in equal parts sweat and beer, Seth just shook his head. "You forgot Mr. Lynch."

"Don't encourage them," Becky groaned, trying to hide behind Charlotte.

Bayley and Sasha decided to split up the chant, Bayley keeping up with Becky's Husband! while Sasha answered with Mr. Lynch!

When Seth raised an eyebrow, Charlotte just shrugged, pulling Becky close to her side so she could kiss her flushed cheek. "Just remember she was our wife long before she was yours. See you later, Becks."

With a sigh, Sasha stopped chanting so she could hug Becky too. "Can't wait until Sunday," she said, giving Becky a long hug. "It's going to be so great."

"I know." Becky freed an arm so she could hug Bayley too. "See you Sunday, ladies," she smiled, flashing the Four Horsewoman hand sign at them before kissing Seth's cheek. "It won't take me long to get ready. Especially since you'll need about three showers. . . ."

Laughing, Seth tugged at his wrestling tights. "Yeah, these might be a lost cause. Have a good night, ladies."

"Good night, Mr. Lynch!" Bayley, Charlotte, and Sasha answered in near-perfect unison, at least until Bayley dissolved into giggles.

Becky waited until she and Seth were far away from the other Four Horsewomen to laugh. "I'm sorry. Were people actually chanting that?"

Seth nodded, leaning down to kiss her head. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. I kinda liked it." Then he jerked a thumb back at the corridor where the Four Horsewomen had been celebrating. "Besides, if I don't like it, it looks like I have competition for your hand. I didn't realize there was a line or I would have proposed earlier." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, slowing as they reached the women's locker room. "Your match was incredible."

"I missed yours," Becky admitted. "But we should be able to make it back to the hotel in time for the replay. . . ."

"No worries. I know you haven't been able to hang out with them for a while." After kissing her, Seth stepped back. "You'll probably finish before I do, so you can come find me when you're done."

"Okay. I won't be long." The women's locker room was empty when Becky entered, only the bags of the Four Horsewomen remaining. After she showered, the first thing Becky put on was her engagement ring, smiling as she always did when it slid into place. The Four Horsewomen were an integral part of her life, one she would always cherish no matter what happened to them. Now that she had Seth too, everything in her life finally felt like it was coming full circle, preparing her for the next loop—and she couldn't wait to see where it took her, and him.