face your demons // finn bálor

Chapter 1

May 23rd, 2016.

"So here I am.

I'm right back at it again."

My ringtone blares from my phone that's plugged in at my bedside. I manage to lift my head from my pillow and grab it.

My brother's face is on the screen, along with his name. Why is he Facetiming me at 10AM? I slide the answer button anyway, revealing his face again.

"Aiden. It's too early for this."

"I have big news. I'm coming to get you for breakfast, so get up." He pauses, looking up at something, before looking back at the camera. "NOW!"

"Why can't you just tell me over the phone, like a normal human being? Are you at the gym?"

"Of course I am, where else would I be? And don't worry about it. Just get dressed." I hear someone else talking in the background. That better not be who I think it is.

My brother's best friend, Carlos, pops up on the screen. "Me too, right? I HAVE NEWS. Ooh, we could go to Pancheros, or Los Altos, or..."

"We're going to Perkins. We've already discussed this."

"Why do you have to bring him. with?" I joke. I like Carlos. He's nice. Just a bit of an airhead sometimes.

"We'll be there in fifteen minutes." He ends the call. That was abrupt.

Part of me already knows what the big news are. Aiden and Carlos have been applying every single year since they met in high school to join the WWE. They both were on the wrestling team, went to a training academy for 3 years together, and still haven't given up. Wrestling is just about the only thing they talk about these days.

So I'm assuming something big happened. They either got signed with WWE, or some other wrestling company. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them. I will always support my brother in whatever he does. But I know he's not going to shut up about having me join too.

I wrestled in high school as well, but I was a couple years behind my brother. We've been huge fans of wrestling since we were little kids, but I never SAW myself doing it as an adult. I still work out, and I've watched WWE from time to time recently, but there's a lot of things holding me back from joining Aiden.

I love my job. I'm a vet tech, working with animals all day. It's great. I also love where I live, and I know that being in a wrestling company (or any sports entertainment, for that matter), means travelling. A LOT. Pretty much only being able to go home when you're injured (kayfabe or for real) or your contract is up.

My brother and I have lived in and around Ames, Iowa for our entire lives. This is home, and I couldn't imagine not being here for an extended amount of time. Carlos. however, has no problem travelling. He's not originally from here. Mexico. He moved here to live with his cousins when he was a teenager, trying to make enough money to bring his parents here in the process. He's still working on that. But who knows, wrestling might be the golden ticket.

There's also some things holding me back from the WWE in particular, but that's not too important right now. I just hope my brother understands that.

I shake my thoughts away and start to get dressed. I don't really feel like doing makeup today, but I should probably fill my eyebrows in.

---x---

The three of us arrive at the diner and get our food. I can tell Aiden and Carlos have been waiting patiently to tell me the so-called "big news", because they haven't wiped those ugly grins off their faces since they barged into my house earlier.

"Okay, tell me." I say, setting down my fork and taking a sip of my orange juice.

"We got signed with NXT."

I act surprised, as if I didn't see it coming. "Oh, wow, that's awesome!"

The two look at each other, confused.

"What? Did you want me to spit out my orange juice in your face and jump on the tables?" I say, sarcastically. I am extremely happy for them, but I know what's coming next. "I'm kidding. I knew you guys could do it. Hard work and dedication."

"Yeah, too bad the hard work is just going to get harder." Carlos says. He's right. I've heard the training is extremely intense, and nothing like the actual authentic wrestling they're used to.

"I think you should come with us." Aiden blurts out. Here we go again.

"You know I can't."

"Just come to the first week in Orlando with us. We can make a vacation out of it, go to Disney World, whatever you want. Please?" My brother pouts at me.

"Ace." His nickname, what he's always wanted to go by if he ever became a wrestler.

"Come on, it will be fun."

"Fine. Only one week, and you're paying for my ticket home!" I hate when he gives me the puppy eyes. You would think I would be disgusted by it, him being my older brother, but it's worked on everyone since we were kids. He always gets his way.

Carlos gets more excited than anyone. "Disney World?! Dios mío, I've wanted to go there my whole life! Hurry up, I need to go home and pack." The three of us laugh and finish up our breakfast.

This is a bad idea. I already can feel it.

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a/n hey everyone! so this is my new fic, face your demons. it will ultimately become a finn balor fic, but it will start off a little slow. and if you're not new to my fics, y'all know i love the drama so >:) be prepared for that. also i already published this under the same name, but a different story. i ended up not liking the way it turned out so i deleted it but now here we are! i'm so excited to start this new series and i hope y'all like it! (picture is chloé boucher, portraying katherine AKA the main character whose POV this whole chapter was in lol)