Hey everyone. Here's something new that I've been working on. Inspiration for this struck a while back and I've been looking to write something out of my comfort zone, so to speak. I loved what they did with Paige and AJ last summer/fall and into WrestleMania this year, and well, I noticed there aren't many fics about these two goddesses, so I figured I'd throw my hat into the pile and see where it goes from here. I'm excited to see where I can take it. I hope you all enjoy.

"Why are you leaving?"

"I just need to."

"That's not good enough!"

"It's...it's all I can give you."

"Please don't go."

"I have to...I'm sorry."

It had only been two days since their final conversation, but it felt like it had been two years. She remembered the tone of said conversation, and the raw emotion that permeated each word they spoke to each other. She had heard the whispers, the rumors that were spread around the entire locker room leading up to WrestleMania, but she refused to believe any of them. She herself had said not to pay any mind to them, to just focus on Mania and their match with Nikki and Brie, the banes of their collective existences. Then they won! Oh, was it glorious to shut those brats up on the biggest stage in all of wrestling. The two of them were riding a high that she didn't want to come down from. And then it just...happened.

April was leaving, and Paige was right back where started months ago when she began her crusade against the Bella's.

All by herself.

"Aww, what's the matter, poppet? Is someone sad that their fellow freak left her high and dry?", she could hear that bitch Nikki saying. She could hear all the taunts and awful things they would surely say to her echoing through her skull as she sat in her hotel room, staring out the window, trying her hardest not to let the tears on the tip of her eyelashes fall. Why did this hurt so much? Why did she care as much as she did? And why was she feeling like she had lost more than just a friend?

She remembered the pep talk April had given her before they went through the curtain for their match. She was a nervous wreck, a near lethal cocktail of stress and anxiety just waiting to consume her. This was Wrestle-fucking-Mania, the biggest event in their business. Seventy seven thousand people. Levi's Stadium. California. She just...she didn't know if she was gonna be able to handle it. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around; it was April. And she was smiling.

"Relax, pumpkin. Just remember what we're here to do. We're here to show everyone that not all girls need to be blow up dolls with big fake breasts, ass implants and god awful spray tans and crappy extensions. They can be weirdos, outcasts, freaks, geeks, nerds, whatever. They can be pale skinned or they can be crazy. They just need to be themselves. There's a ton of little girls out there in the crowd who look up to the two of us, who consider us heroines, who idolize us. Let's do right by them. And most importantly...let's shut those two bimbo's the hell up."

Everything after that was a piece of cake.

Flopping down onto the bed, she found herself staring at the ceiling, for all intents and purposes looking like a woman who was seeking an answer from above that wasn't going to come. Her hazel eyes wandered to the fridge in the corner, where killing the mini bar inside of it was suddenly looking like a great idea right about now. She would take anything right now to numb the pain, dull the emotional damage that had been dealt to her heart. Why did she fucking care so much? They were just really good friends who had gotten closer over these past few months. A lot closer...

The sound of knocking jarred her from her thoughts, and for some reason she really thought it'd be April on the other side of the door. So when she opened the it to reveal her best friend Emma, she would've been lying if she wasn't a little disappointed. Letting her into the room, she turned around and walked right into a tight embrace from the blonde Aussie. One she eagerly returned. It was now that the tears began to fall, and she made no attempt to stop them from flowing freely.

"It's okay, love", Emma cooed as her grip tightened. She could only imagine how much this was killing her best friend right now. Detaching herself from the pale skinned beauty, she saw the tears falling from her eyes and felt her heart break for her. "Oh Paiger...", she whispered as she hugged her again. "This is really upsetting you, huh?"

All she could do was manage a feeble nod before squirming out of her friend's arms. Kicking open the fridge door, she grabbed two mini bottles of whatever vodka it was in there and, without much regard for what Emma would think or the hangover that would surely follow if she kept going, practically swallowed them whole.

"Paiger, stop", she said, grabbing her wrists gently to prevent her from repeating her actions. "Everything will be okay. You'll become a stronger woman because of this. You don't need her", she said, immediately regretting those words when the raven haired woman sharply turned her head and gave her one of the sternest looks she could ever remember receiving. "Okay, poor choice of words there."

"No shit", Paige blurted out bluntly, her accent coming out thick. "How could she just do this, though? Just up and leave like that? I feel like the biggest frickin' fool ever for believing her...", she said, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. This was hitting her so much harder than she thought it would. They were just close friends, right? Yeah, they had a lot in common, mainly their hatred of those damn Bella's, but there were other things too. They were just close friends...

Paige's mind then began to wander to the WrestleMania after party. Of course they were celebrating their victory hard. The liquor was flowing, the music was loud and pounding, and everyone was enjoying themselves. She remembered sitting at the round table she was sharing with Dean, Roman and Daniel, among others. Everyone was drunk, or at least halfway there. She had felt a tug on her arm, and saw that April was trying to get her onto the dance floor, but she wouldn't have any of it, at least initially. But after another shot of vodka, she found herself being dragged onto the floor by the tiny brunette.

And they danced. She was incredibly sloshed, but that didn't matter. They both felt alive as they moved in rhythm with the beat of whatever crappy house music was blaring throughout the club. After a while, she had stopped dancing and was watching April go at it...it was a sight to behold. The way her body moved, the sweat glistening off her skin, the way she was just feeling herself...Paige was enamored. She had been for a while, if she was being honest with herself, but it wasn't until now, right now, seeing April like this...when her heart wasn't skipping a beat, it was thudding against her ribcage like a drum.

Walking (stumbling) up toward April, an idea crossed her mind...'Why not?', she thought to herself as he got closer. She could always blame the alcohol tomorrow. Once she was within earshot of April, she reached out to touch her shoulder. "Hey, AJayyyy", she slurred slightly to no response, the alcohol taking effect. "Aprilllllll!", she whined, finally getting the tiny brunette to turn around and face her.

"Yes, my little crumpet?", April said with a giggle as she ran a hand through her wavy, mahogany locks, seeing how hammered her friend was. "What can I do you for?", she asked with a wink, the sexual nature of her words plain as day to both of them. "Come to celebrate with me some more? How awesome was it when I made that bitch Nikki tap out, huh?", she asked excitedly. "We fucking showed them, didn't we!?", she exclaimed, causing Paige to laugh at April's choice language. It was always a treat when April cursed.

It was then when Paige noticed just how close she had gotten to April. She was practically hanging off of her like...well, like a spider. A black widow, to be exact. This would make things easier, she thought to herself. Tilting her head to face the former three time Divas Champion, she figured now was as good a time as any...

Except by now, she had already felt herself begin to drift off into the land of unconsciousness. She was now barely hanging on to April, her eyes fluttering open and shut every few seconds. April couldn't help but laugh out loud at this development. Slinging the taller woman's arm around her shoulder, she began to carry/drag her to the exit. "Okay pumpkin, time for bed. Someone's all partied out", she whispered into her seashell shaped ear, grinning madly the entire time.

Minutes later, they were in Paige's room, April having carried her (mostly dragged, and with great difficulty given the height difference) the rest of the way, with the younger woman muttering incoherently the entire trip up there. But instead of going straight to bed, the self proclaimed Anti-Diva made a beeline for the bathroom and began to empty the contents of her stomach into what April hoped was the toilet. Anything but the bath or sink, because cleaning that up would be a bitch and a half. Pushing the door open with her Converse covered foot, she breathed a sigh of minor relief when she saw a mound of black and blue hair hugging the toilet.

The two of them spent close to an hour in there. Paige would vomit in spurts, and April always made sure she was there to hold her hair back and make sure she was well taken care of. After she was finally done, April helped her to bed and tucked her in, sitting by her side as the native of Norwich looked dreamily into her eyes. They remained like that, in silence, for a few moments, until Paige laughed.

"What's so funny, drunky pants?", April asked as she brushed a lock of blue hair out of her friend's eye, thankful that the night was finally winding down to a close. She looked down into the younger woman's heavily lidded eyes, her own filled with pride and joy. They had accomplished something big tonight. The both of them. It was one of the proudest moments of her life, and she was glad she was able to share it with her little English muffin.

"Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?", Paige suddenly blurted out in a giggly tone. "I mean, look at you. You're gorgeous!", she said, drawing out the 's'. "So lovely, so beautiful, so weird", she followed up with, making April smile. She always did love hearing Paige's accent come out as thick as it was now. "And so beautiful too! Sooo, so beautiful. Who knew a Black Widow could be so beautiful?", she asked rhetorically in-between giggle fits. She was beyond drunk right now.

"Maybe once or twice, someone has. Not as much as you do though, poppet", she said with a grin as she bopped her nose with her pointer finger. "You make a point to tell me that at least seventeen times a day", she said, smiling as Paige did the same and bopped her nose as well. "Sweetie, you're drunk. You need to sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Ohh enough about work", the raven-haired Brit said loudly. "We took names and kicked some hardcore Bella ass tonight! Work can wait", she whined, growing more tired with each second passing. "I wanna talk about you and I. About how awesome we are, and how we're gonna rule the world because freaks and geeks should always rule the world!", she exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air for added emphasis.

April bit down on her tongue to prevent more laughter from escaping her lips, instead letting a small yawn escape. "You're absolutely right, Paigey, you'll get no arguments from me. We'll talk more about it in the morning though, okay? You need to sleep tonight off and I need to find an excuse to binge watch stuff on Netflix all night. Deal?"

Paige nodded her head, and appeared to be finally headed off into the land of the dead, when she suddenly snapped her eyes open and grabbed hold of April's wrist, tugging her back down onto the edge of the bed. "Wait wait wait wait", she said in rapid fire succession. "There's one more thing I wanna say to you, Miss April", she said, the tone in her voice growing serious. "And if I don't say it now, then I never will."

It was then that she threw caution to the wind, grabbed April by the sides of her face, reached up, and kissed her. And it felt fucking AMAZING. She tasted just like she thought she would...and she smelled so nice... what amazed her the most was that April wasn't trying to push her away/violently reject it. They remained attached at each other's lips for a few more seconds before the need to breathe became apparent.

Then the silence set it, and it grew thicker with each awkward second that passed.

April was the first to speak, though she really didn't speak; she mouthed the word 'Wow', more so to herself than anything, and stood up off the edge of the bed. Paige looked up at her with pleading eyes, hoping, wishing she'd say anything. "April...?", she whispered out. "Say something...please."

"That was um...wow", she stammered out. "I wasn't expecting that", she said timidly, her voice soft and small. She began twiddling her thumbs, her eyes now looking down at her Chuck Taylor's. "You um...you know what you're doing, pumpkin, I'll give you that..."

There was no eye contact between the two women, and that only served to make Paige feel more uncertain and nervous about this whole thing. Even in her drunken state of mind, she knew nothing about any of this would feel right if April didn't make eye contact with her. Her own eyes were pleading, almost begging, for any kind of sign that she hadn't just made the biggest ass of herself. "I just...it felt right...April please, say or do something. Don't leave me hanging like this."

April looked to her fellow weirdo and forced a tight smile for her. Sitting back down on the edge of the bed, she took the raven haired Brit's hand in her own and rubbed her thumb on it. She looked like she was struggling with what to say, and for a few more seconds, she opened her mouth and repeatedly closed it, not sure if it was a good time to tell her what was going on in her personal life. Lightly shaking her head, she decided against it. That wound would have to be reopened another time.

"It's late, pumpkin. You need to sleep", she repeated, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I know how you are when you're hungover, so please, for the sake of both of us, try and get some shut eye", she said, another tight smile on her lips. She went to get up and turn the lights off, but before she did, she turned and faced her. "I promise, we'll talk about what just happened tomorrow, Paigey."

She nodded and soon drifted off into dream land, content with what April had told her.

Except the talk never happened. She woke up the next morning to find the room empty, any and all traces of April gone. It was like she had vanished into thin air. Then came show time, and April did everything in her power to avoid her like she had the plague. They must've said three words to each other before their six woman tag with Naomi against those damn Bella's and Natalya.

The match came and went, and when she tried tracking April down after it, she was nowhere to be found. And then the next thing she knew, she was gone. Poof. Like a bandit into the thick of the night, she got the hell out of dodge and ran right into retirement. And that brought her back to now.

Emma had long since departed, leaving Paige to her thoughts and the mini bar, or what was left of it by now. "I'll never forgive you for this, April...", she murmured to herself, scrolling through her phone, looking at pictures the two of them had taken during WrestleMania week. One by one, she deleted them all. Why keep memories of someone who quit on her when she needed her most? That's all April would be now to her, a distant memory.

Bringing up their texts, she scrolled through them too, and shook her head, a sad look on her face as she read each one. Deciding against better judgement, she typed out one last, lengthy text and pressed send. She didn't care if April read it or not, she just needed to get her piece off of her chest. Deleting her number from her phone, Paige threw herself down onto the bed and downed one last mini bottle of vodka, her eyes becoming heavier with each passing second.

"Goodbye, April", she said to herself as she let a yawn escape. "Thanks for nothing."

Because that's what she felt like without her Black Widow around.

Nothing.

Once more, I hope you all enjoyed. See you soon.