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Chapter 8 - Slamming Doors

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Chapter 8 has finally arrived!! Took me awhile to get here after all the edits and restructuring but I'm really happy with it! I hope y'all enjoy it and please interact if you do!

MDNI 18+ only NSFW Content Warnings: Protected!PIV (brief but explicit)

Summary: Shawn apologizes, but is quickly confronted with kayfabe and a storyline neither him or Ruth agreed to. As Ruth decides to walk away, Shawn realizes he can't escape her.

The next morning, Ruth and Mick checked out of the hotel and began the drive to Kansas City. The drive was supposed to be four hours but with Mick’s peeing habits Ruth knew it would be at least five. She was tired from everything that had taken place last night and was hoping to get some sleep. As she settled into the passenger seat Mick spoke.

“You got in pretty late last night. Was everything okay after the pay per view?”

Her mind replayed flashes of what had happened between her and Shawn the night before. Him covered in blood. The look on his face when he grabbed her hand. How mean he was to her. The hateful things he said about her and Mick. What made her stomach turn was the image of his face when he said it. His bloodshot eyes and snarl.

She tried to sound neutral, “Everything was fine, I just got bloody and it took me a while to clean up and leave.”

Mick turned to face her, his brows raised in shock and concern, “Bloody?? Did you get hurt?”

“No, I didn’t get hurt. Shawn was thrown onto the commentary table and I got his blood on me.” She remembered the pink color of the water when she was washing her hands and she almost gagged.

“What, was the guy bleeding out?”

“Honestly, yes. When you watch the pay-per-view you’ll see what I mean. He left a pool of blood on the floor.” Her face grimaced at the memory.

“God, I knew I should have come last night just to watch the match!” he smiled, “I’m not letting you talk me into missing a Pay-Per-View again.”

A silence settled between them and the scenery seemed to blur together, billboards and shabby rest stops were the only things on the roadside. Ruth slept most of the way to Kansas City. Once they arrived in the hotel parking lot, Mick woke her up.

“Alright, up and at’em sleeping beauty.” He tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

She woke up gasping, “Jesus Christ Mick, I told you not to wake me up like that!”

He started laughing, “I don’t know how else to wake you up. I treat you like a grandma with a heart problem and you still look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled.

They checked into their hotel room and packed their stuff for the episode of RAW that night. Ruth was still uneasy about getting ready in the locker room so she dressed and did her hair and makeup before they drove to the arena. The backstage area was busy as usual. Everyone was doing their pre-show routines. Mick went to the locker room to get in his gear and Ruth went to wait for him in catering.

Catering was mostly empty, many people were still getting dressed. They hadn’t stopped on the road for lunch, so Ruth was starving. She grabbed a plate and started moving through the buffet line. She reached the end and started to grab her utensils and a napkin when Vince walked to her.

“Hello Ruby, Great work at Badd Blood last night.” Vince smiled.

She was hesitant, “Oh, thank you, sir.”

“Yes, your reaction to Shawn during his match was great!” His eyes lit up and Ruth’s stomach turned.

Her brows knitted in confusion, “Uh.. what do you mean?”

“Well you know, the whole thing with you being so upset. Screaming and throwing your headset off! The crowd really loved it! Keep it up!” He gave her thumbs up and walked away, his arms swinging and chest puffed.

Keep it up? The crowd loved it? Does he think I was acting? She walked to a small table near the back of the room and started to eat. Ruth worried about the possibility that there would be more talk of how she reacted the night before. She wished that she could scrub the entire night from her memory. Her head hurt and she was still tired. This is gonna be a long night. She decided to go to the beverage station and make a cup of coffee. The cistern was nearly empty, but she was able to get a mostly full cup. She started to stir the creamer with a tiny red straw.

“Hey.” Shawn. If the cup had been in her hand instead of on the table she would definitely have second degree burns all over herself. She gasped at the sound of his voice. Her blood pressure spiked and she felt her stomach drop.

She stared into her coffee cup, not wanting to turn and look at him. He didn’t deserve to talk to her anyways, not after how he had treated her. She started to rip open her sugar packets and continued to ignore him.

Shawn was wearing black jeans with a cream colored shirt and black leather vest. His hair was braided back and he had on sunglasses even though the room was nowhere near bright enough for them. He stood several feet away from Ruth. “You okay?”

She almost laughed at the question. She turned to him, “Oh yeah, I’m perfectly fine.” She spotted the large gash on his forehead, it didn’t look as red and swollen as the night before, but it was still hard to look at.

He shuffled back and forth and pointed to his forehead, “Yeah, it doesn’t really hurt, just looks bad.” He cleared his throat, ”You look tired.”

Who the fuck does he think he is? “I didn’t sleep, but thank you for letting me know that I look like shit. I really appreciate it.”

A production assistant came to the table and grabbed a bottle of water. Shawn stepped further to the side, giving Ruth even more space.

He looked at her again and mumbled, “So I was pretty fucked up last night.”

Ruth squeezed the coffee cup and the styrofoam dented in. “Yeah, you were.”

He swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his neck, “I shouldn’t have said those things. I shouldn’t have done t-”

She cut him off, “What part?”

“You know the things I said about you and Foley being together.”

She rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to her coffee. She swirled it around in her hand, “Yeah, me and Mick ‘being together’. Don’t think that’s exactly how you phrased it.”

Shawn froze. She had never seen him be at a loss for words. He looked uncertain.

His voice was quiet, shaky almost. “I scared you.”

Ruth looked up at him. He had pushed his sunglasses back into his hair. She could see his bloodshot eyes- not high, just tired. He was watching her like an animal he didn’t want to spook. She remembered the way he looked at her the night before when he had her caged against the wall and her stomach clenched.

“You said horrible, hateful things to me, Shawn. I didn’t deserve that.”

“I know.”

“And you wouldn’t get away from me. I tried to push you away and you wouldn’t move.”

His face fell. “Ruth I-”

Her voice started to wobble, “You made me feel disgusting. I was stupid for ever trusting you to begin with.”

Shawn looked like she had stabbed him. The words hung heavy between them and there was a pause.

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel that way. I don’t want you to feel that way,” he finally said, almost in a whisper.

She thought about Sunny’s comments backstage. That he had been telling her all the intimate details of what they had done. How much time she had spent crying over it and how stupid she felt for it.

“Well, you did.” Ruth stepped around him and started to walk away.

Shawn turned towards her, “Ruth, I’m sorry.”

She didn’t turn around. Her throat tightened painfully and she went back to her table. She no longer wanted to eat.

Mick came and sat with her for dinner. Ruth blamed her silence and lack of appetite on a headache. She wasn’t going to tell him about Shawn. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Although, a small part of her wanted to let Mick know exactly what Shawn had said. She knew that Mick would beat Shawn’s ass for hurting her. Then, she considered that Mick might lose his job over it, so she decided against it. She drank her coffee and took some aspirin, hoping to find the strength to get through the night.

JR and Jerry were already in their seats at the commentary table when Ruth walked up. She hadn’t seen the schedule for the night, so she took a peek at JR’s. Written at the top of the page, “DX interview with Vince on Badd Blood”. Fan-fucking-tastic. She sighed and organized her notes. The fireworks sounded and before JR could announce the start of the episode, Shawn’s music played and he walked out of the curtain. He danced his way down the ramp with Chyna and Hunter following him. He posed and his pyro went off behind him. He was putting his normal show as if he hadn’t ripped her heart out the night before. She couldn’t stop looking at him even though it made her stomach hurt.

Vince stood in the middle of the ring holding the mic, “Shawn Michaels, last night you were involved in what is possibly the most brutal match in the history of the WWF and somehow you survived.”

Shawn took off his sunglasses and leaned into the mic, “Well Vin-man, I think I did exactly what I said I was gonna do- beat the dead man’s ass.” He had a cocky smile and the crowd hurled boos at him.

JR spoke, “What about the sixteen stitches ya got there Shawn?”

“I’m sure the Undertaker ain’t looking so great either! Not that he ever does!” Jerry laughed.

“Shawn, you fell over sixteen feet onto the commentary table and gashed your eyebrow being thrown into the side of the cage by the Undertaker. Many superstars would have wanted to stop the match.”

Shawn smirked, “Well, it’s gonna take a lot more than that to stop the Heartbreak Kid. I want you to take a good look at who is here and who is not here. The icon, the showstopper, the main event of the World Wrestling Federation, Shawn Michaels is here! The Undertaker is not!” The crowd booed louder.

Vince smiled and then spoke again, “Well, there was one person who was pretty adamant that the match stopped last night.” Ruth’s breath hitched and she froze. Shawn’s smile faltered, but he quickly returned it. Vince continued, “In all my years here at the World Wrestling Federation, I have never seen a commentator react the way Ruby did when you went through the commentary table.”

Jerry busted out laughing, “Ohhh, here it is!”

“Hush King!” JR sighed.

Ruth’s face was burning. Vince glanced over at the commentary table, “She seemed very upset and concerned for you last night.” She felt like everyone in the arena had eyes on her. She was grateful that her face wasn’t being shown on TV.

Shawn stared at Ruth for a moment, with a solemn face. He quickly changed it to a smirk, “I always knew she had a soft spot for me, and who can blame her? Sixteen stitches, bloody and beaten last night and I still look like this the next day.” He gestured at his face and body.

Jerry cackled and JR muttered, “Here we go…”

She spoke quickly into her headset, rushing her words, “He was bleeding profusely, anybody with any sense would have reacted- “

Jerry continued laughing, “Ruby, it looked like a whole lot more than professional concern. I think you were worried that his face wasn’t gonna be so pretty anymore!”

JR interjected, “Shut up King, that was a rough match to watch. The man left a puddle of blood at our feet.”

Ruth ignored their chatter. All she could do was stare into the ring at Shawn wondering why he had fed into it. She didn’t believe his apology earlier and it certainly meant nothing to her now. She couldn’t pay attention to the rest of the promo, she was too busy fighting back tears and trying to swallow the lump in her throat. Her notes shook in her trembling hands as she tried to control her anger. Shawn looked at her one last time before he left the ring. His smile disappeared when he saw her face.

Ruth was on autopilot after the promo. She commented occasionally on the technical aspects of matches, but it was difficult for her to have any banter with Jerry and JR. Jerry seemed to sense that Ruth was actually upset about attention being brought to her reaction the night before and he stopped bringing it up. During the long commercial break at the halfway point of the episode, JR and Jerry both turned to her.

JR spoke first, “Ruby y’alright there?”

Her voice was shaky, “Yeah, I just didn’t expect all of that attention to be on me. I really was scared last night. He was bleeding a lot and sometimes things really do go wrong in matches. I was worried that something really bad was gonna happen.”

Jerry leaned in, “It’s okay, it was a tough match to watch. That was about the most brutal one I’ve ever seen and I’ve been doing this a long time.”

She wiped along her waterline, “Yeah, I just feel stupid I guess? I overreacted and I brought this on myself anyways.”

JR patted her back, “Don’t beat yourself up, you never know what’s gonna happen out there. You just can’t take what’s said in the ring- or commentary, personally.”

Ruth knew that promos were just storylines- drama for the camera. But her response at the Badd Blood had been genuine, and it hurt for that to be twisted into something else. She decided that she was going to have to figure out how to change the narrative around her reaction. She didn’t want to be intertwined with Shawn on or off camera. Right now it was just “commentary girl fawns over Shawn Michaels because she has a crush” and it scared her to think of what that might lead to.

Ruth tried to listen to JR and Jerry’s advice and talked more during the following matches. She participated in the banter a little more, but she was having trouble being as quick-witted as she normally is. She just wanted the episode to be over; she had accepted that tonight was a wash. Then came the last match, Hunter versus Bret Hart. Hunter’s music played and he walked down the ramp with Chyna. Ruth felt relief wash over her to see that Shawn was not with them. Bret entered the ring and the match started quickly. Bret pushed Hunter to the corner and pinned him against the ringpost, pummeling his midsection with his fists.

JR spoke, “Now here we have Hunter Hearst Helmsley, another member of the sophomore class or degeneration-x as they call themselves. I can’t decide who’s worse, him or Shawn Michaels.”

Ruth snorted, “Shawn is most definitely worse.”

“I think you both are wrong, Chyna is the worst of the bunch. She stands there quietly every week, but I know backstage she is the brains behind this whole operation!” Jerry laughed.

Ruth shook her head, “Hah! I think Chyna has just had the misfortune of being lumped into their antics. I’m sure she would have never agreed to be Hunter’s bodyguard had she known she was going to end up babysitting what is essentially two middle school boys.”

“Do you think if there was another woman in the group they could reel these antics in?” JR asked

Ruth shrugged, “It doesn’t have to be a woman, just someone with some sense. But anyone with any sense would never align themselves with this group.”

“Well, do you think that you would be able to-” JR’s sentence was cut short. Shawn started to make his way down the ramp to a roar of boos. Shawn was now in just his jeans and vest, he took off his shirt at some point backstage. He strutted down the ramp pointing to his crotch and turning his head side to side telling the fans to ‘suck it’. Ruth’s breath hitched. Seeing Shawn’s bare chest made her think of the way it had felt beneath her hands in the dressing room when he comforted her. How warm his skin was against her palms, he had felt like a branding iron. The images of his sweat dripping through the fine hair that covered his chest and abdomen. The same sheen that is on his chest now. Warmth had pooled in her stomach and she blushed. Her fingernails dug into her palms with a sharp sting. She hated that her mind and body reacted that way to him. She wished she never had those memories to begin with.

Jerry laughed, “Well speak of the devil JR, here comes your favorite superstar!”

JR scoffed, “He’s no favorite of mine. Bret has spotted Shawn Michaels at the ring apron. This is sure to throw off Bret’s focus and give Hunter an upperhand in this match.”

Shawn stayed at the ring apron taunting Bret, at one point, he even put part of the Canadian flag in his nose.

“Wow, Shawn Michaels is a real class act,” JR said, shaking his head.

Anvil and Owen came to the ringside area and stayed across from Shawn. They were trying to intimidate him and stop him from interfering in the match- it didn’t work. Bret tried to wrap Hunter’s legs around the ringpost and Chyna pushed him out of the way. Just when it looked like Bret was going to hit Chyna, Shawn came and hit him with sweet chin music.

“Oh my god ref, turn around for christ’s sake! He needs to be disqualified!” Ruth yelled into the microphone.

Hunter was deemed the winner by result of a countout since Bret was knocked out and stayed outside the ring. Ruth rolled her eyes. This cheating gimmick is getting old. Why do they keep writing this? JR signed off at the end of the episode and Ruth felt immediate relief. She said her goodbyes to Jerry and JR and rushed backstage to find Mick and leave. Tonight had worn her out, between Shawn’s ‘apology’ and what he said in the ring with Vince her head was spinning. She just wanted to sleep.

She found Mick backstage, he was standing with several other wrestlers outside the locker room. He greeted her with a big smile, “Ruth! Me and a couple of the guys are going to a bar nearby to get some drinks! Come with us!”

She was hesitant, “I don’t know Mick. I don’t really drink and I’m just so tired.”

His face fell, “Oh, um I can just go back to the hotel with you then- it’s no problem.”

She felt guilty. Mick was always watching out for her and he really didn’t spend that much time going out with the other guys. She didn’t want him to miss out. “No, I’ll just get a cab. I don’t want you to not go because of me.”

“Are you sure?”

She smiled and gave him a sideways hug, “Yes, I’m sure. Just don’t get into too much trouble.”

He smiled, “I can’t make any promises.”

Her face was stern, “And don’t drive if you drink.”

He nodded and handed her his keys, “How about you just drive my car back then? I’ll ride back with someone else.” He laughed, “Don’t drive too crazy, speed demon.”

Ruth drove herself back to the hotel carefully and tried to focus on the road. She couldn’t wait to just take a bath and go to sleep. As she walked through the hotel, she saw Sunny hanging onto Shawn and running her fingers up and down his bare chest. Sunny was talking to him, but he wasn’t responding. He locked eyes with Ruth and she quickly looked at the floor and bolted for the elevators. Anger bloomed in her chest. He has been talking to her about me. She also felt a twinge of jealousy. No. I’m not jealous. Let her have him. They deserve each other. When she reached her room she slammed the door behind her and stomped into the bathroom. She turned the tap to a scalding temperature and started to fill the tub. Fuck him.

Shawn walked with Sunny to her room. She opened the door and he followed quickly behind. She had been droning on in his ear about random bullshit the entire night, he just wanted to fuck her and leave. Sunny smiled at him seductively, “Have you been missing me?” He didn’t respond. Instead he spun her around and made her face the mirror over the dresser. He quickly unzipped her dress. “Because I’ve missed you.” He pulled her dress down and then her panties.

He gruffed, “Are you ready?” and reached in his pocket for a condom.

She moaned, “I’m always ready for you.”

He looked at the dresser and saw Sunny’s makeup bag. “Put on the red lipstick.”

She looked at him confused in the mirror. “What?”

He motioned to her makeup bag, “Put on the red lipstick.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out the tube and put a layer on and then put the cap back. The shade had sort of an orange undertone, but he decided it was good enough. He shook his head, “No, just keep putting it on.”

She looked at him in the mirror with a raised eyebrow, “Ooookay.” He unzipped his pants and pulled his cock out of his boxers, giving it a few long tugs.

He put a hand on her back and bent her over the dresser. He stared at her lips as he inserted himself into her core. She moaned dramatically and arched her back. After a few strokes, he grabbed her hips and started to pound into her harshly. “Fuck Shawn, you’re so deep, baby.”

He kept his hard pace. He grunted, “say ‘please, Shawn’.”

She moaned almost pornagraphically, “Pleaseeee Shawnnn, want you to fuck me harder baby.”

He growled, “No. Say ‘please, Shawn’. Nothing else.”

Sunny kept moaning. “O-okay. Please, Shawn!”

His grip on her strengthened. “Again.”

She moaned loudly and started touching her breasts, “Please, Shawn!!!”

He screwed his eyes shut, “Say ‘make me feel good’.”

She looked up at him in the mirror. Her breasts were swinging back and forth harshly from how hard he was pumping into her. “What?”

He gritted his teeth, his eyes still shut. “Just say it!”

She rolled her eyes but kept fucking back into him, meeting his strokes. “Make me feel good!”

He started fucking her even faster and harder. “Again!”

She arched her back and whined, “Please, Shawn! Make me feel good!”

He laid over her and his strokes became sloppy. He groaned, “Fuck Ru- ughhh.” He slowed down as his release filled the condom. When he finished, he quickly pulled out of her and threw the used condom in the trash. He tucked his softening cock back in his pants and zipped them up.

Sunny turned to him with fire in her eyes. “What the fuck? Did you just say Ruth?”

He wiped a hand down his face and sighed, “No, and what would it matter if I did, huh? You have a boyfriend anyways.”

She scoffed, “Is that what she says when you fuck her?” She started to talk in a high pitched, breathless voice, “‘please, Shawn’ and ‘make me feel good’?”

He pulled his pants back up and groaned. “I’m not fucking her.”

She laughed, “You’re trying to tell me that ‘Future Mrs. Shawn Michaels’ won’t have sex with you?”

He got in her face, “Shut the fuck up! Don’t talk about her.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, “It was fucked up that you went through her stuff like that anyways.”

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the dresser, “Whatever, Shawn. You weren’t saying that when you sat beside me laughing about her stupid little notebook. Next time don’t come in here acting like a weirdo and try to last longer than 15 seconds.”

The door slammed on his way out. Shawn laid in his bed that night tormented by visions of Ruth. How her lips would have looked in the mirror, how her eyes would have stared into his, how she would have sounded beneath him. He even considered if he should go to the store the next day and try to find the right shade of red lipstick to give to Sunny, but he knew she wouldn’t go for it. Besides, even if she did, he knew it wouldn’t be enough. The only thing that would be enough is Ruth- and she hated him now. Shawn couldn’t stand to think of it anymore. He downed some muscle relaxers with a glass of whiskey. Eventually, he felt heavy and his vision was soft and blurry around the edges. His mind slowed down and he could finally sleep.

Ruth sat in the bath, refilling the tub with more hot water when it went cold over and over until the skin of her fingers and toes were pruny. She was now sitting in the lukewarm water, the back of her head completely submerged. Her red, curly hair looked darker now that it was wet. It floated around her like tendrils. She stared blankly at the peeling paint on the ceiling, no doubt caused by years of steam and poor ventilation. She decided that the next time she saw Shawn she'd put her foot down and cut all ties. This bullshit between them was hurting her job performance. She wasn’t going to let ‘Ruby’ be weaved into some storyline with him.

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