Her Authority

twenty nine

Marina stumbled into gorilla with her championship on her shoulder. She successfully defended her title against Nikki Bella that night. Roman and Dean were the first two people to congratulate her with a hug. Her title landed on the floor as she embraced her former stablemates. When they released the hug, Marina picked up her title and noticed a certain individual standing behind them. Dean and Roman parted as Chris Jericho walked up to her.

"How are you, kiddo?" 

Marina covered her mouth in shock as Y2J welcomed her into a hug, "holy shit."

He chuckled as Marina hugged him, "it's nice to see you too, Ricky."

"Are you their partner tonight?" she asked as they broke their hug.

Jericho nodded, "are you staying back here to watch?"

"Yeah," she glanced to the side, noticing her other half waiting for his turn to congratulate, "I have a few other matches to watch tonight so I'm living back here tonight."

He looked behind him and saw Seth, "is that going well?"

She looked up at him with a shy smile on her face, "yeah."

"Good," he winked at Marina before patting her back as he walked away.

Marina walked up to Seth who clapped for his partner as she walked into his embrace. He planted a kiss on her head, holding her close to his chest. She looked up at him as he looked down at her. 

"You did great out there, bud," he nodded, making sure that she knew how proud he was for her. "how you feeling?"

"Good," she sighed, glancing over at Vince then back to Seth, "I'm excited for my promo tomorrow that's for sure."

His eyes widened as a smirk appeared on his face, "you're going through with it?"

She bobbed her head up and down as she proudly smiled, "yeah."

Seth pulled her out of gorilla and into an empty hallway. Marina rose her brow as he placed her title onto a crate next to them. He positioned her body so that she stood parallel to him. Everything about this moment was understandably confusing for her. His match was in less than twenty minutes and he was worried about how she was standing in front of him. Clearly, he had a reason behind his actions, but she didn't know what it was.

He tilted her head up with his thumbs as he cupped her jaw with his hands, "no matter what the outcome of tomorrow night is," their eyes bore into each other as she wrapped her hands around his wrists, "I will be your biggest fan, your number one supporter, your best friend, I'll fucking be whatever you need me to be because I believe in you and what you stand for."

She couldn't help but tear up a little, "that means more than you know."

"This job isn't worth losing your sense of self over," he  shook his head, "you're such a strong individual and I would be a shit boyfriend if I let you forget that."

"I just don't want to hate being here," she barely got her words out, but he heard her, "I, I can't hate being here. I devoted so much of my life to this profession. I just, I can't-"

He watched her become more upset with herself, signaling that he needed to be there for her. His arms wrapped around her as she buried her head into his shoulder. She stood on her toes as he crouched so that they were at a comfortable height. Her short nails threatened to dig into the muscle of his shoulder as she squeezed his upper back. 

"I know, bud," he sighed as he felt her body relax. 

"You need to go to your match," she couldn't pull away from him, even though she gave the warning.

"Please don't sit in gorilla if it's going to make you uncomfortable all night," he pleaded with her while she attempted to stop their embrace, "Creed said they'd be in catering if you wanna sit with them."

"I think I'll sit in for your match with Sting," she spoke as he pulled away from her, "I've seen you and John fight a lot recently."

"Whatever you are most comfortable with," he smiled before kissing her forehead as she laced her hand with his.

As he attempted to step away, she kept her hold on his hand. Seth rose a brow as she brought his wrist up to her lips. She planted a kiss against his skin, letting go of his hand as their eyes met. He winked at her while he walked backwards toward gorilla. She let a sigh out as she grabbed her title and made her way to catering.

<<<

Marina returned to catering wearing Seth's zip-up merch. Sitting at a table with The New Day improved her mood drastically. The four of them cracked jokes about the match taking place, as well as commenting on how the match was. She sat down between Big E and Xavier Woods, who filled her in on what she missed. She kept her eyes on the screen as the trio shared glances.

Xavier cleared his throat while Marina watched Seth take a clothesline, "we want to know more about this guy that you're spending all your time with."

Marina smiled, coyly, "the guy who you are friends with already and who told me you'd be in here?"

"Was that sass?" Big E shook his head and scoffed, "I thought we raised her better."

"No," Kofi sniffled back his laugh, "no we raised her much better. Rick the Brick wouldn't be who she is without us."

"That's honestly pretty accurate," she nodded while smiling at them.

"C'mon now," Big E wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her into his side, "don't give us all the credit. Everybody saw the match tonight, they saw the proof that she can hold her own."

Marina tried to hide her smile as Seth's match against Sting was about to start. She focused her attention on the screen until she remembered she needed to be in gorilla. Big E also realized this and released her from his hold. The brunette said her goodbyes and walked to gorilla. As she entered, the only head that turned her way was Cena who welcomed her with a fist bump. The two stood next to each other as the match continued. Marina anxiously chewed at her nail beds the entire time. That all stopped when Seth hit Sting with a buckle bomb. Her eyes widened when Sting stumbled to the ground.

"That wasn't good," Cena commented before walking over to Hunter and Vince.

Doctors rushed past her as she watched Seth gloat in the ring. She held her hand close to her chest as she nervously rubbed her collarbone. The match continued which surprised her. Marina didn't hide how upset she was in that moment. Cena came back over and placed a hand on her shoulder as the match concluded. She appreciated the gesture, but her mind couldn't help but spiral over what could be wrong with Sting. Fortunately, Marina had only ever suffered minor injuries in her professional career, so the thought of being seriously injured in the ring scared her. 

"The best you can do is be there for him," John leaned down to whisper into Marina's ear, "I'm sure he's crushed over this and the best thing you can do is make your presence known to him."

Marina nodded as Seth walked into gorilla. He didn't waste anytime following after the medical professionals and Sting. She trailed behind him at a distance and stopped to watch him say something to Sting before they closed the medical room door on him. His hands rested on his hips as he shook his head while slowly turning around. As soon as he saw her, his emotions surfaced. Marina ran towards him, engulfing him in a hug when they met. He broke down in her arms and continuously apologized to her as she combed through his hair. 

"It'll be okay," she whispered as she began to tear up herself, "I'm here for you. We'll be okay."