New story, yeah! And, this one doesn't have an OC, so you'll most likely recognize every character mentioned. Let me know your thoughts, okay?

This came to me after I spent last night watching "No Strings Attached" and my inspiration blossomed. Ew, blossomed is a weird word. Anyways, I decided to start this one while The Return is on a hiatus, and I'm still pretty actively updating No Escape for the Broken, so check those out.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story - unless noted - as all persons mentioned belong to Vince McMahon/WWE.

Enjoy! :)

She felt as his lips traveled up and down her neck, tracing the outline of a fresh bruise she received from one of Tamina's nasty clotheslines. He smelt of mint and liquor, and even with the fact that she wasn't one to drink, she engulfed the smell.

This wasn't the first time Paige and Seth had sex, and they knew for certain that it wouldn't be the last. They weren't close friends per say, but they weren't strangers either. They'd met almost two years prior when they were both signed to NXT, but that was all in the past. Not a single word was spoken besides that casual greetings as they passed each other in the halls. But, looking at them now, wrapped and indulged in each other's company, you never would have guessed that they were once only co-workers.

Casually, they'd gotten drunk whilst in Europe, the only place it was legal for Paige to drink at the time, and ended up in Seth's hotel room with the evidence of their night all over the floor. But, the next morning, before she could make the infamous Walk of Shame, they ended up talking for two hours about random and irrelevant things before somehow concluding that it all meant nothing, and it wouldn't happen again.

That was, until a few weeks later when Seth lost the NXT Championship and needed comforting. One thing led to another, and within an hour or so, he was calling Paige's cellphone and asking her to come and hang out. Hanging out, being the last thing they do when their around each other.

After that night, they agreed that they would be "Friends with Benefits." No strings attached, just emotionless, casual sex. Plus, it all had to be done in secret. They both knew that if anyone found out about their situation, the news would be everywhere. Not to mention how differently the fans would look at them for their actions.

So, they continued lying to their friends about their whereabouts, sneaking behind their backs and running into each other's arms when times got tough. They continued having meaningless, emotionless, casual sex.

But, right then, as Seth and Paige were moving along together, the emotions were running high.

"No strings attached" meant nothing in that moment.

Rolling over, Paige was, yet again, disappointed to find that Seth had already dismissed himself and headed out. It was normal for one of them to leave before the other was awake, but it still felt wrong to wake up alone after a night like they'd had.

She sat up and looked around to double check that he was actually gone. "Yup," she commented, noting that his wallet and jacket were gone. That was the thing about their hook-ups, if his wallet or jacket was still there, he hadn't left. But, if they were gone, so was he.

It wasn't the idea of their relationship, if you could call it that, that kept her questioning her own morals. If anything, it was the feelings she got when she went to bed in his arms, and woke up cold and alone.

Paige turned and stood up out of bed, pulling her hair up with the band that was wrapped around her wrist. The British Diva pushed her blinds aside and looked down into the parking lot. She knew that she needed to be out and downstairs before eight, because that was when she and the other divas were going to head out for breakfast.

It was tradition for them to grab food together, but it wasn't the kind of tradition that you always look forward to. Especially when you've spent the night doing something with a certain someone that nobody else is supposed to know about.

And, she's done a good job of hiding it from everyone at work. So has he; nobody even suspected that they had anything going on. And if it were up to them, it would stay that way.

The brunette spent a few minutes packing her bags and making herself look halfway decent, just in case someone with a camera were to spot her. After a while, a small knock on the front door sounded and she went to answer it.

"Are you ready?" Emma asked, looking inside to see that Paige's bags were already packed.

Nodding, Paige grabbed a jacket and threw it on. "You're right on time, actually. Just finished packing everything up."

"Well, you're going to need to hurry and throw it all in the van downstairs. Alicia is driving." The Australian Diva emphasized Alicia's name. It wasn't because the woman was a bad driver, but she was the feistiest. She had more road rage than all the girls combined.

"Understood," Paige said flatly before hurrying over to the bed where she threw her packed bags. As she picked them all up, she noticed a small piece of paper folded and placed on the nightstand. Checking over her shoulder, she made sure that Emma was distracted by her phone before picking up the note.

Paige,

Sorry for leaving so fast. I got a call from Dean and he wanted me to go and run through some moves for out match on Monday. Hope I didn't scare you...

Seth

She smiled to herself as she re-read the note three times before Emma started snapping. Stuffing the note into her jacket pocket, she grabbed her things and the two new Divas headed down to the parking lot for the long day ahead.

"Where were you last night, man?" Dean asked as he stretched out his legs.

Seth shrugged. "I had to call it a night pretty early on," he lied.

"But, you weren't in your room," he noted.

"What's with the interrogation, man?" Seth stood up and climbed up into the ring and began to do a few run-throughs against the ropes.

Dean followed steadily behind, but opted to stand still against the man who continued to run against the ropes. "I just asked you a question, thinking I'd get an honest answer. But, instead you pulled a lie out of your ass."

He wasn't sure how he should answer this. Dean wasn't the kind of guy to run around and gossip with the people at work, so he knew that the secret between him and Paige would be safe no matter what his decision was. But he kept thinking about Paige from the night before. How her eyes lit up when he got to her room, or how she seemed to smile brighter when he promised that he would call her and set up for another night. He knew that even if the secret was safe with Dean, their 'relationship' could end just by him mentioning it.

"Well?" Dean insisted.

Seth stopped running and was pushing his hair out of his face. "I already told you. I went back to my room early."

"I knocked on the door, you didn't answer."

"I was sleeping," he lied again, "okay?"

It took him a second, but he nodded. "Okay."

"So, we're good?"

Dean laughed and shook his head. "We're good. But, when I find out what you were really doing, I'm going to hold it against you."

Letting himself laugh at the threat, Seth was really concerned on the inside. Although he would never admit it, he truly did want more than just what he had with Paige, and if anyone found out about any of it, he wouldn't get that.

Looking down at her Divas Championship, Paige rested up against the cold, brick wall. She'd been sitting in the empty Divas locker room for almost an hour, her match already over, and all the other Divas wandering around with their friends and boyfriends.

She enjoyed the peace and quiet that the emptiness provided her. It allowed her to relax after all the screaming and cheering of the rowdy crowds; she loved them regardless.

However, the silence caught up with her, and she eventually closed her eyes and dozed off before being thrown back into reality by the slamming of the door in front of her.

"Jesus Christ," Paige muttered and she sat straight up, "you scared me."

Seth smirked and locked the door on his way in. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "I was thinking that we could pass the time," he trailed off.

"Twice in one day?"

"Really, it's only once. We technically had sex last night, if you're counting the time right."

She rolled her eyes and placed her title down. "I got your note," she muttered.

"Good," he said as he walked towards her, "I was hoping you would before we all checked out."

Standing up, Paige walked towards the other side of the room, trying not to smile at the sight of Seth following her. "How was your workout with Dean?"

"Good," he said again, moving closer and closer to her until they were a foot away from each other.

She had her back completely against the wall and was breathing in the air that they were sharing, being that close to each other. "And, how is Dean?" she asked, this time in almost a whisper, due to the small proximity between them.

He paused and pressed his lips against hers, feeling the lips ring that she had on the corner of her mouth. "Good," he whispered once he pulled away.

Not taking a second to think about it, they were captured in another kiss, this one more heated and passionate. They eventually found their way to one of the benches where one of the Divas' stuff was, but that didn't stop them from sliding it all off. Within a few minutes, they were lying there, wrapped in each other's arms again, trying not to fall of the unsteady bench.

"I better get going," he groaned as he stood up and began to put back on his ring attire, protective vest and all.

Paige nodded and sat up, raking a hand through her hair. "Good luck," she said, returning to her casual tone of voice.

Nodding, Seth smiled at her. "You had a pretty good match tonight."

"Thanks," she smiled, "I've been practicing."

"I can tell."

The brunette sat in silence as the man in front of her got dressed and combed through his hair with his fingers. She would never admit it, but she was mesmerized by the sight. She'd never gotten close enough to one of the Shield members until then, and just being in the same area as one of them was enough to send chills down her spine.

Just the fact that it was Seth was enough to send her spiraling out of control.

"I'll call you," he promised.

Paige nodded and grabbed her clothes, putting them on. "Good," she said, repeating the word that Seth had teased her with many times before.

He caught onto her teasing and smiled before walking out and leaving her, stranded once again. But, she was used to it. The only thing she wasn't used to was explaining how all of the other Divas' stuff got thrown around during their break.

But, she'd figure it out.