(Un)Break me - Rhea Ripley x reader

Getting worse

hey :) tell me what you think of the story?

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I love the way you watch me with those tired eyes.

Y/N's POV

As time went by, your group has grown closer to the wrestlers. Working close to them for a lot of time made you all develop a somewhat friendship. You were surprised to find out none of them are Hollywood assholes, they were just some weirdos who didn't know what to do in front of a camera very well.

Oh the irony. Seeing them under the spotlight for WWE and seeing them struggle to come up with some reels is way too contradictory for you to wrap your head around, but that's just how things were, you think.

You liked working with them, they were funny and really tried their best.

However, the past few weeks have been... hard. Your habits are getting bad again. Insomnia sucks. Overthinking sucks.

It starts as something harmless, you go out on a day, which makes you go to bed a bit later than usual, then you start reading or watching movies to chill after work, and when you see, you're not able to sleep properly. It's a snowball, but then again, breaking habits is not your claim to fame. And then, with the no sleeping comes the overthinking (or does it come before the no sleeping part? You're not sure anymore). You start double-questioning every decision you've ever made until this day and ponderwing why are you wasting your life on. The more you think about it, the worse it gets and the next thing you realize is that it's been three days since you slept for more than 40 consecutive minutes.

"Oh but there's plenty of medication for it, silly! Or those melatonin gummies, have you tried those? They're great!" Is something you would hear more often than you'd like to. "Oh my god thanks Sherlock! I never thought about any of this!"  Is what you want to scream every time. The truth is you tried them all and they either made you incredibly sick or didn't work at all. You just gave up, accepting that there would be times you would be getting no sleep at all while other times you would have a somewhat regular sleeping schedule.

At the moment it's 5:47AM, after rolling in bed for hours, you got up, deciding to go read a book while having some coffee.

You chuckle to yourself as a soft thud comes from beside you and you see your cat approaching nonchalantly, trying to get on your lap.

You read until it's time to get ready and go to work.

There, the morning passes rather slowly (maybe because you're in such a haze that you barely register anything going on around you, but who knows?) until your manager announces that you all are going to the WWE Performance center to meet with the wrestlers and their PAs to discuss strategies and already start to create some content with them.

"How long?" Sebastian gets you out of your thoughts.

"Huh?" How long 'what'?, what are you talking about?.

"How long since you started having trouble sleeping again?" It bothers you that he knows you so well, but at the same time not having to explain what's happening or why you're acting a certain way makes you feel relieved. Talking about what happens with you and inside your head is tiring. And you definitely don't need anything else making you tired right now: your own head does a pretty good job at it.

"Like three weeks... maybe more" You say, rubbing your eyes in an attempt to get rid of the tiredness. Not like it helped, though, obviously. His face shows sympathy but he doesn't say anything else. He knows better.

The two of you pack your stuff and head out to the WWE Performance center.

Rhea's POV

We've grown closer to the team working with us since we had to spend a lot of time together. Even though me and the guys are usually the center of the attention, I like observing the people we work with, the way they move and behave. Ok that sounded creepy. But that has always been one of my habits, to observe people and understand what their gestures mean, their body language and everything else. It's my wrestling thing, I guess, studying my opponents and how they move so that I can be a better wrestler myself.

As of lately, I can't tell when exactly I started to notice Y/N was consistently tired. She looked exhausted already when we first met and it's been getting progressively worse. The bags under her eyes don't seem to fade, quite the opposite, actually, even though she tried masking them with make up. Her posture has become slightly bent and she would be way quieter and even her skin started to break a little. I wonder if something is going on.

"Ok guys that's it for today! Thank you! Oh and some of us are going for dinner at Paul's if anyone wants to join" Sebastian said. It was dark outside already.

At the bar, we sat in front of each other and I could feel her eyes on me, slowly blinking before zoning out. The corners of my mouth rise a little when I catch her resting her eyes on me when zoning out. She looks like a tired kitten.

Y/N's POV

At the bar, even though everyone was chatting and laughing, keeping yourself from falling asleep right on the stop was a very hard task. Rhea was noticing it too, smiling slightly every time you'd zone out. She probably thinks you're an idiot.

Eventually, you decided to leave and as you were standing up, you felt someone touch your wrist gently.

"Y/N, you're not driving, right?" Rhea asked while looking at you with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to drive in this state, you're very tired and it's a long way downtown." She says calmly, frowning slightly.

"I know, I really wish I didn't come by car today but since I did, I have to take it back." You smiled a little but the truth is you could cry from how fucking exhausted you are.

"Let me drive you, we can come and pick your car up tomorrow. It's really not safe for you to drive late at night when you're tired."

"It's ok, I don't want to bother you, thanks for the offer though."

"It's not gonna bother me at all, really!" Rhea had a kind expression without makeup on and it makes your brain glitch. "Rhea, really, I can do it on my own". At this point you were desperate, just wanting to go home as soon as possible. She sighs heavily and the next thing you know, she's walking towards her car with you on her shoulder.

"Rhea put me down! What the fuck?! What are you doing?!" You try to make her let go but come on, it's Rhea bloody Ripley.

"Oh my god you are a stubborn one, put your address on the GPS, please." She sighs, getting into the driver's seat and the two of you laugh.

"Thank you, you really didn't have to" You say quietly, glad that she did it because you were scared yourself of driving tonight.

"No need to thank me for anything, I could never forgive myself if I just let you go and something happened to you". Is that...worry? You discard these thoughts immediately and start typing your address on the car console because why would she worry about you in the first place?

Rhea's POV

Y/N didn't talk much during the ride but at one moment she got especially quiet, so I looked at her, only to find her sleeping with her head slightly turned to the side. Cute. I wonder when was the last time she had a good night of sleep, though.

When we got to her apartment complex, she was still sound asleep. I didn't have the courage to wake her up, so I got the keys from her hand and carried her to her bedroom. The second I lay her down a black mass appeared on the bed, scaring the shit out of me. Fucking cat. I pet it a bit before leaving and it starts purring.

"You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up,

you looked like you needed it.

Sweet dreams,

Xx Rhea ;)"

delivered 02:15AM