Welcome to the Queendom

Chapter Thirty

When I stretched in bed the next morning, I hit something.
"Dean?" I asked groggily.
"Hm?" he grunted as he buried his face in a pillow.
That's when I remembered that we fell asleep together. He walked me to my door and when I opened it, he burst inside and kicked his shoes off, getting comfortable on the bed. I was too tired to fight so I crawled next to him and drifted off too. We didn't even bother changing out of our Hall of Fame clothes. The only thing we spared were our shoes that were in a pile at the foot of the bed. I slipped out the bed and stood, rubbing sleep from my eyes. I looked at Dean for a good minute before picking up a pillow and chucking it at his head.
"I'm up, I'm up," he said as he groggily got to his feet.
He reached up, almost touching the ceiling, and cracked his back.
"It's WrestleMania," I said trying to be excited through the fatigue. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed at the dinner past the time it was supposed to be over.
"Yeah," he said distractedly, staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
He smiled. "Nothing. You're just beautiful."
I rubbed my cheeks to keep from blushing. "Shut up," I said as I went over and pushed him back onto the bed. "You're something else." And then I went into the bathroom.

When I passed by Dean who was sitting in the lounge area in the lobby, he stood and followed me out the door. I was wearing a white tank with a knot in the front and the Superman logo, blue ripped jeans, red pumps, a batman bracelet and earrings, and a burgundy beanie with a red clutch.
"Are you stalking me?" I asked.
"Would you think it was creepy if I said yes?"
"Very," I replied as we passed the parking lot.
"Why don't I drive you to The Dome?" Dean suggested.
"It's only a 20 minute walk."
"Only?" Dean questioned. "And with that?" He pointed to my duffel that was hoisted on my shoulder. There wasn't really anything in it except my ring gear and some other light things.
"Dean, I'll be fine."
"Why don't I shortened the time into six by getting you to my car."
"How about no?"
Next thing you know, Dean slung me over his shoulder and he carried me back to the parking lot. "Dean, put me down!"
"Like your shoes," he said casually as he opened the passenger door and placed me inside the car.
"Dean, I'm not playing around," I warned.
"Me neither," he said before he closed the door.
I righted myself in the seat and crossed my arms with a huff.
"Don't pout at me," Dean said as he slipped into the driver's seat and placed my bag in the backseat making me stick my bottom lip out even more.

I let out a low whistle as I looked out at the empty Mercedes Benz SuperDome. It was already decorated with the ring set up and the WrestleMania XXX sign standing tall behind me. The only thing the crew directors were working on was the lighting. Hidden speakers played this year's themes "Celebrate" by Kid Rock, "Legacy" by Eminem, and "In Time" by Mark Collie.
"Amazing," I whispered with an awestruck shake of my head.
"I said the same thing last year," Dean said from behind making me jump out of my skin.
"Don't do that," I scolded as I swatted at his arm.
"You get scared too easily," he stated.
"No, I don't," I lied. "And besides it's not my fault that you like to sneak up on people."
He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and placed his chin on my shoulder. I didn't pull away as he started to sway. "Wouldn't it be cool if we both left WrestleMania winners?" he asked.
I nodded. "I already know you'll win. Kane's grown accustomed to a suit and tie that I don't think he really remembers how to win matches and Billy and Dogg...." I trailed off, thinking. "What's the nicer term for 'old'?"
"Elderly?" Dean answered.
"No, that still sounds mean."
"Ancient?"
"Okay, now you're just trying to be funny."
"Along in years?"
I snapped my fingers. "That's it, along in years. They should be no problem."
I felt Dean nod. "Do you know if Jackson's coming?" I asked after a little bit.
"Why?" Dean asked bitterly.
"I was just curious, calm down."
I waited until the wind from the fans stopped playing with my hair to ask, "What do you have against Jackson?"
"What are you talking about?" Dean questioned.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You've been a little hostile toward him as of late. Last night was the only time I've seen you guys actually talk in a minute."
Dean sighed and opened his mouth as if to explain, but then just shut it again and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Do you like me?"
"Of course I do," I replied.
"I mean like me like me."
I looked down. "Maybe," I mumbled, blushing.
Dean pinched my cheek and chuckled. "Me and Jackson are cool then."

"Hey."
I turned and saw Randy. "Oh, hey," I said, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear as I straightened in my chair.
He handed me a water bottle and sat down next to me in the front row. He looked around from the empty seats to the WrestleMania XXX sign on the stage to the ring.
"Awesome, isn't it?" he asked with a sigh.
"Very." A few drops of water cooled my legs as I took a drink. "Ready for tonight?"
"Uh-huh," he replied unconvincingly.
"What's wrong?" I questioned as I put my bottle on the ground in between my legs. "You're not worried about Dave, are you?" He shook his head. "Hunter?" He shook his head again. "Well, what?"
"Daniel."
"What are you afraid about?" I asked.
"I know he's gonna win tonight. And I'm not just talking about against Hunter."
I laid my head on his shoulder and rubbed his arm comfortingly. "It'll be okay, okay?" I said. "Whatever happens tonight, you tried and that makes you a guaranteed winner title or not."
He shook his head again but with a whisper of a smile on his face. "If it helps," I said, "If Daniel wins, he's not keeping the title. Steph and Hunter won't allow it."
"I thought Daniel was your friend," Randy said.
"He is, I'm just stating the truth."
Randy nodded in agreement before a smirk grew on his face. "So how are you and Mr. Ambrose?"
I sat up and hit his shoulder. "Shut up," I said.
"I'm just asking a question," Randy insisted in mock innocence.
"Oh sure you are," I replied with an eye roll. "It's none of your business."
He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright." He leaned back in his seat and grinned at me. "Congratulations."

"Hunter calm down!" Stephanie shrieked as her husband tossed a chair down the hall.
"I think Hunter's taking the loss pretty well," Randy said causally as him and I crouched down behind a crate, using it as our shield.
I looked at Randy like he was crazy. "Seriously?" I asked. "He's tearing up the backstage area."
"I'm surprised he's not setting it on fire," Randy admitted as him and I peeked over the crate at Hunter's red face and Steph's scared one. I'm guessing this is the first time she's seen her husband in this state of insanity.
"Duck!" Randy shouted and yanked me back down as a bucket went flying over us. It would've smacked me in the face if Randy hadn't had saved me.
"Thanks," I said breathless as I looked at the bucket like it was deadly.
"Where is he!" Hunter bellowed. I peeked at him from the side of our shield and saw he was looking around as if Daniel was somewhere near when we knew he wasn't.
I guess he knew this was gonna happen since he bolted out of here until his match in the main event. Thanks for the heads up, Daniel.
"I said where. Is. He?"
"Hunter, he's not here," Stephanie said hoarsely. She seemed completely beside herself. I decided to help.
"Hunter, it's really not that bad," I said as I stood. Randy tried to grab my wrist but I shook him off and stood behind Hunter. "It's not even that big of a deal."
Hunter spun around to face me, his eyes blazing. Stephanie was shaking her head as if this was a bad move. I pointed to the crate with my thumb.
"I think I'm just gonna go back behind there," I said as I slowly backed up. "I think I'm just gonna take myself over there." Then I scurried back to safety.
"Next time, when I grab your wrist," Randy said through clenched teeth, "don't shrug me off."
"Gotcha," I said.
Hunter's temper tantrum lasted another five minutes. Randy found a stack of cards in the crate and we played I Declare War as we watched The Shield's match against Kane and The New Age Outlaws on the TV that was bolted on the wall right beside us. The match only lasted like three minutes with The Shield winning by triple power bombing Road Dogg and Billy Gunn at the same time. What do you call that? A double triple power bomb? Randy and I had our money on the guys and I beat him in the game 4-2. We didn't even realize Hunter was still upset until after the match when we heard an ear splitting scream and saw Samantha's, the divas' gear designer, workshop being demolished. I wasn't about to go back out into the line of fire even if I did love Samantha to pieces and Randy turned back to the TV, pretending not to notice. But Hunter calmed down enough to stop destroying things and swearing at Stephanie toward the beginning of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and stomped to his office.
"Thanks for the help guys," Steph said sarcastically.
"What?" I asked offended.
"Well, not you but Randy. He's the man, he could've done something."
Randy turned from the TV. "I'm sorry, what?"
Stephanie scowled at him. "Whatever," she grumbled as she too stomped to the office.
"Ooooooh," I said like a little kid. "You in troublllllllle."
He chuckled. "Whatever. One more game?" he held up the cards.
"One more," I agreed as he dished them out. "I have to put my gear on soon."
"You have like two matches to go before yours," he pointed out.
"There's nothing wrong with being prepared," I countered and he nodded in agreement.
"Touché."