After SmackDown

The Judgment Day are still stunned about what they just saw happen. He did it. Jacen asked out Tay. Damian couldn't be prouder of his friend for putting himself out there. Meanwhile, another friend has something he wants to say to Jacen.

The latter of the two's phone starts to ring while he's in the middle of getting ready for his date. He looks at the caller ID and rolls his eyes before answering with a smile.

Jacen: Hello?

Duncan: WHAT THE HELL, MAN!?! I leave for a couple weeks and you go off and start askin' girls out!?

Jacen: So you heard, huh?

Duncan: Heard? I watched it! Lex and I have been trying to set you up with different girls for months!

Jacen: You watched it?

Duncan: Demi called Lexi. What made you interested in Tay?

Jacen: I don't know. She's...different.

Duncan: Different how?

Jacen: I don't know how to put it. The...vibe is different.

Duncan: Like you can trust her even though you just met her.

Jacen: Yeah, something like that. We'll see how it goes tonight.

Duncan: Good plan, but Lex and I expect details. All the details.

The Son of the Deadman laughs a little, then speaks.

Jacen: You got it, man. I'll call you tomorrow morning.

Duncan: First thing.

Lexi, from the background: We want to know everything!

Jacen: Got it. Talk to y'all later.

Duncan: See ya, bro.

Lexi: We love you!

The call ends and Jacen finishes getting ready. Once he's ready, he grabs his bags and leaves the locker room. As he's walking out, some friends notice his smile.

Cody: Woah, someone's happy.

Jey: Yeah. Whatchu smilin' about, uce?

Jacen: I got a date tonight.

Cody: A date!?

Jey: With who!?

Jacen: Tay.

Cody: Tay Melo?

Jacen: Know any other Tays?

Cody: You take good care of her. She's a good friend of mine.

Jacen: I'll take care of her, Cody.

Cody: I know you will. And if you don't, I have your dad's number.

Jacen, laughing: I don't need him to fly here just to kick my ass. I'll take care of her.

Jey: Good luck tonight.

Jacen: Thanks, man. I'll see y'all next week.

Cody: See ya.

Jey: See ya next week.

The two turn away and Jacen leaves them behind. He's walking down to his car when he sees a small woman standing next to it.

Tay: Hey, Warlord.

Jacen: 'Sup, Melo. You ready to go?

Tay: Yep. You look nice.

Jacen: Thanks. You look...

Words fail him as he looks at Tay. She's absolutely stunning. Suddenly realizing he hasn't said anything for a minute, he says the first thing that comes to his mind.

Jacen: Woah.

She giggles at his inability to think of anything to say. Seeing one of the scariest horror-based characters in the wrestling world struggle to speak is enough to make anyone laugh, but when it's him trying to describe how good you look, it's even more special.

Tay: Thank you.

The two load their gear up and get in the car. They speed off to the restaurant, are sat down, and order their food. After a few minutes of small talk, their food comes and they dive right in. As they eat, they get to know one another.

Jacen: So, what're you doin' back in WWE?

Tay: A bunch of us got pretty amazing offers to come here. Toni jumped at the chance so she could be back with her boyfriend. She's supposed to move to RAW in a few weeks. I didn't have anything really keeping me in AEW, so I signed the contract.

Jacen: Huh. So I can expect more All Elites to pop up?

He says with a smirk. Tay giggles a little before answering.

Tay: I guess so. I don't know who all signed with Toni and me.

Jacen: Hopefully they treat you right this go around. What happened last time really sucked.

Tay: You're telling me. So, tell me a bit more about you. Where are you from?

Jacen: Small town outside of Austin, Texas. What about you?

Tay: I'm from Rio. Rio de Janerio more specifically.

Jacen nods his head as Tay speaks. She tells him about her life in Brazil. After talking about her childhood, she decides to ask Jacen about his.

Tay: What's it like to be the Deadman's son?

Jacen: It was pretty normal, until him and my mom split. I used to spend my summers on the road with dad, going from show to show and traveling with them. As I got older, I was able to travel with him more and more. I learned a lot of life lessons and started my training at a pretty young age.

Tay: Who all trained you?

Jacen: My dad and Kane mostly. I worked with Sting a lot too.

Tay: You know Sting?

Jacen: Oh yeah. When I got a little older, Ric Flair used to take me to WCW and, eventually, to TNA. Met Abyss there too. Nice guy.

Tay: Wow. So you've been training to be a wrestler since you were a kid?

Jacen: It was either that or military. I couldn't decide which branch to join, so I stuck to wrestling.

Tay: You're really good at it.

Jacen: Thanks. It helps when you've done this for most of your life.

Tay: I bet. Is there anything besides wrestling that you're trained in?

Jacen: I've done boxing, kickboxing, Judo, and Krav Maga.

Tay: Ever thought of learning Brazilian jui-jitsu?

Jacen: I learned a few things from my dad. Mostly the triangle choke. Other than that, I've never had time to learn it.

Tay: I could teach you.

Jacen: You sure?

Tay: Why not? Got any better ideas?

Jacen: Nope.

The two smile before finishing their dinner. They pay for the food and head back to the hotel. While in the car, they sit in awkward silence. Tired of the silence, Jacen hands her his phone, which is connected to the radio.

Jacen: Here. Put some music on or something. It's way too quiet.

Tay: Okay. What do you want to listen to?

Jacen: I don't really care. Why don't you pick what you wanna listen to?

Tay: Because I normally listen to rap and you don't exactly look like you listen to rap.

Jacen: No, I don't. Not much at least, but go ahead and play whatever makes you feel comfortable.

Tay smiles and scrolls through his phone. After seeing he doesn't have the song she's looking for, she goes to search for it. Tay finds the song and figures the remix might be the better version to play.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

She dances a little and notices Jacen move his head to the beat. Tay smirks and secretly records him nodding his head and sends it to herself. While smirking, Jacen gets a text.

Jade: Great job tonight, Jace! Can't wait to see you again!

Tay furrows her eyebrows at it, which doesn't go unnoticed by Jacen.

Jacen: What's wrong?

Tay: You got a text from someone named Jade. She says she can't wait to see you again.

Jacen: Awww. That's nice.

Melo looks at him confused and anger begins to build up a little. She isn't sure why she's getting upset, but the thought of Jacen being with another woman is making her feel uneasy.

Tay: Nice?

Jacen: Yeah. She's a good kid.

He looks over and sees her face. Her upset and confused stare causes him to laugh a little before he explains the text.

Jacen: Jade is Hunter and Stephanie's daughter. She's basically my little sister.

This causes Tay to physically relax. She gets upset with herself at not trusting him on their first date.

Jacen: Look, don't beat yourself up. If I had your phone and saw some guy's name, I'd worry about what I was getting myself into.

Tay: Really?

Jacen: Oh yeah. These days you don't know what's goin' on. People are crazy.

Tay: That's so true!

Jacen: Too many weirdos. But you have nothing to worry about. Jade and I aren't like that.

Tay: Sorry for getting upset with you. I feel so embarrassed.

Jacen: It's alright, Tay. Like I said, I would've felt the same way. Like I was wasting my time or something.

Tay nods in understanding. Before she speaks again, Jacen gets another text. This time in the group chat that has him, Duncan, and Logan (Logan-Kenway).

Duncan: Don't forget to wrap it up!

Logan: What? Did you mean to send that?

Duncan: Ah shit. It's the group chat. My bad, Lo. I meant to just send that to Jace.

Logan: Why would you send that to Jace? Wait. Does he have a date?

Duncan: Yeah. With Tay fuckin' Melo.

Logan: What!?! No one tells me anything anymore!

Melo laughs as she sees the texts come in.

Jacen: What's so funny?

Tay: Your friends.

Jacen: What?

Tay: Duncan wanted to tell you to "wrap it up" but he accidentally sent it in the group chat.

Jacen: Which group chat?

Tay smiles evilly.

Jacen: Ah no. Winters?

She shakes her head. Jacen sighs.

Jacen: Kenway.

Tay laughs.

Jacen: I'm surprised Duncan didn't tell him sooner.

Tay: Really?

Jacen: Yeah. Logan and Duncan are really close. They tell each other a whole lot. Whether the other wants to know it or not.

Tay: Sounds like you have some great friends.

Jacen: I don't have friends. I have brothers.

Tay: You know Caleb Winters?

Jacen: Yes. I met him when he was training with Orton before he went to AEW. He introduced me to Duncan and Logan. Last I heard, he was attacked by the Bloodline and hasn't been seen on tv since.

Tay: Interesting. I wonder what's gonna come of that.

Jacen: Knowing Winters, it won't be anything that you'd expect.

The two continue talking until they get to the hotel. Once they get there, Tay doesn't want to stop hanging out with Jacen and invites him to her room. He accepts her invitation and the two continue talking about their pasts and their goals for the future until they inevitably fell asleep. Due to lack of a better option, the two shared the bed using a pillow wall to keep their personal space.

(A/N: Thank y'all for reading. I wanna thank Logan-Kenway for helping me write this chapter and for being in the story. He gave me some pretty good advice and I'm very thankful. If you want to see what happens with Caleb Winters, check out Life is Phenomenal. Y'all have a good one. I'll talk to y'all next time.)