Liv saw Rico come through the curtain... I mean, how could you not, he was Pissed about not winning! Liv was upset that she'd come up short as well, but that wasn't the worst problem they had at hand.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Rico flipped out of rage, punting a chair across the room, setting an unofficial WWE locker room record for Chair punting which hadn't been broken since Randy Orton punted a chair back in 2009. It was amazing. (Enough Comedic writing for the moment...)

Liv thought it would be best to calmly approach him... partially because she didn't feel like getting backhanded if he turned around too fast. "Hey, Big guy..." luckily, Rico turned his head slightly, Recognizing her voice, and he took a deep breath. "Gio, he screwed me out of that match." Liv grabbed onto his arm. "To be fair... you took him out earlier tonight." Rico laughed. "I mean, I guess. Still sucks, though... you feeling hungry?" He asked, deciding to change the topic, since he found it hard to stay mad around her. "Hell yeah, I am!" She jumped up into his arms and he Laughed as he carried her to the next room... then set her down, as his arms were sore from lasting over Half an hour in the rumble... but not everyone was laughing.

From the Revolution's Locker room, Their leader, Jake Cross, watched the footage of his Elimination on repeat. Rico had just belittled him, humiliated him, and made a moment at HIS expense! Jimmy Havoc and James Storm sat on the opposite end of the room. "You good, hoss?" Storm asked. Jake angrily threw the TV remote in his general direction in response. "Guess that's a no." Havoc smirked. "That Rhodes guy again? Dude, You gotta let em go." Jimmy popped up and began walking over when Cross began looking through old photos in his phone of himself and Gionna/Liv.

"Everything... was Perfect. It was all Planned out... I had my entire future in the palm of my hands, and this... this ASSHOLE Rips it away! Ohoho, You'll pay. I'll take back what's mine by taking away the one thing you can't live without. Your loss... is MY gain!" Cross said with a Twisted grin, Laughing to himself almost maniacally.

------
At a nearby restaurant/bar, Rico & Liv had invited some of their coworkers to a Royal Rumble Afterparty. The Street Profits & Bianca, the Four Horsewomen, The Undisputed Era (and Britt Baker), and more all joined in, as usually this meant free shit for them, as the Rhodes' covered the cost.

The drinks were flowing, the food was hot off the grill, and everyone was having a good time. Rico and Liv were enjoying their late night dinner when they were approached by a rather tall, familiar man of the Australian variety. "G'day, you two. Always a Pleasure runnin' into ya!" Rico grinned and chuckled. "My man! C'mon, stay a while. We got some things to talk about!" Rico encouraged Rowan to have a seat. Seeing he was welcome, the big man shrugged, securing his WWE Championship on the back of his chair, then sat with the two.

"Word on the street is, Wilder's a pain in your Ass, that sound accurate?" Rowan asked. Rico nods, having a mouth full of steak. Liv rolled her eyes. "Definately. Anna's been on the rude side too. He's rubbing off on her. Get this, she even was chewing out Tay for leaning too heavily on her relationship with Sammy for popularity!" Rico gulped down some Corona Extra (Find Your Beach). "To be fair, those two are very over the top with the Publicity. It almost seems like a staged relationship... kinda like you & Jake." Liv chuckled at Rico's statement. "Yeah, I still feel a little bad about keeping that from him. I mean, He can't hold a Grudge forever, right? I was in a Storyline relationship with him that came to a Storyline end-" She was cut off by Rowan. "But what if it was real to him? Men can easily be played by the right Muse. You may just be his." Liv bit her lip. "I guess I'd better talk to him..." Rico tried to object, but Rowan glared at him. "Ricardo... you know it's the mature thing to do. You're worried Cross' gonna try somethin'. I get it. But he wouldn't hurt Gionna If he really does claim to have feelings for 'er."

Rico sighed. Rowan was saying things he didn't really wanna hear, but if there's anyone who Rico took the advice of, it was this guy. Rowan was a sort of Voice of Reason in chaotic situations, and he'd become a Locker room leader in the short time he'd been in the company. Plus, he was one of Rico's "Jabronis" (that's "The Rock" speak for "Best Bros", if you didn't know.)

Liv saw Rhea and Lacey at a table a few rows down and excused herself. "Hey, Imma go chat with Mace & Demi for a while. Don't leave without me!" She winked, taking off, leaving the two men to chat about... well, whatever they wanted to talk about.

"So, Hangman's coming for the Title potentially. You ready for em?" Rico tried making some off-topic smalltalk, but it didn't work. "I'm always down for some Cowboy Shit... but Rico, I know Cross too. If he tries something... what's your plan, mate?"

Rico lowered his head. "I rip him limb from limb." Rowan tapped his glass of water on the table. "That's all fine and such... but I'm pretty sure it's Highly Illegal." Rico shot a glare towards Gedling. "You damn well know I didn't mean literally. I'll break his arm if I have to. He touches her, and Next chance I get, It'll be no mercy." Rowan relaxed back In his chair. "You worry a lot, mate. Ever thought about takin some time off?" Rico sighed and continued eating. "Of course not. The road life actually keeps me pretty occupied. Plus, All the 'Relaxing & Rehabbing' after Summerslam? Since AUGUST of last year?! It's JANUARY, Rowan! I've missed Four and a half, almost FIVE MONTHS. I've had my time sitting on the sidelines. I'm getting Payback. And not even on Nicholis Burns. I have some other targets who need to be taken care of..." He stood, and his voice trailed off. Rowan took a "wild" guess. "Project Exodus?" Rhodes nodded. "If ya need it, I'm here for ya, Rhodes." Rico cracks a smile. "Thanks, man. Knew I could count on you." Rowan shrugs. "Take it Easy, Rhodes. Nothing too reckless."

Rico turned slightly. In classic Rhodes family fashion, he responds, "No Promises."

----

Liv sat by Lacey (AKA Macey) and Rhea (AKA Demi). "Liv, you hear the news yet?" Lacey said excitedly. Rhea rolled her eyes. "Theres no way She's not heard it! She dates the Brother of the guy who set it up!" Liv was a bit confused. "Know... what?" The girls both said "We're going on a Cruise!"...

Insert Excitement here. (It's almost 5 AM, gimme a break people 😅)

"Apparently Rico's brother got the entire Locker room booked on a cruise. Convinced Vinny Mac there was revenue to be had by hosting a WWE private Cruise with 5,000 some fans allowed to come too." Liv couldn't believe what she was hearing. Free Cruise? And get paid while doing it?! HELL YEAH!

---

Later that night, Liv was changing in the Hotel bathroom while Rico lie on their bed, looking at Twitter. Jake had Tweeted LOTS of things at Liv & Rico... both saying very different things. A variety of them included:

@RealJakeCross tweeted @YaOnlyLivvOnce...
-Pls come back to me I miss u GG

-did you just forget you're not really with him, or...?

-enough's enough, Gionna! Don't make me do something I might regret!

-I swear to God, Gionna If you don't answer me, I will come find you!

Gio had replied the following to each of the tweets, Respectively.

-Nah 🤣

-Maybe I am 👀🤔

-I dare you, bud 😂😂😂

-You realize Rico's reading this over my shoulder right? Run while your legs still work 💀💀💀

Gio simply didn't care. She was dismissing every attempt this guy had. Every Plea, every ounce of begging, every last word of his desperate attempts to regain her affection... and she played It off like it was just another Storyline.

His tweets at Rico, however, we're much more Harsh.

@RealJakeCross tweeted @RicoRhodie_WWE:

-Give GG back or imma fuckin kill you She's mine not urs

-GG will never love you with your small PP energy.

-If you don't listen to me, I'll have to kick your ass.

-I'll prove I'm the better wrestler and win GG's heart back. Watch Me.

(Liv replied to the above saying "Ew don't steal my catchphrase. That's Copyrighted for a Reason!")

-One, Take my Universal title. Two, Take my Woman. Three, take away my chances at redemption in the rumble. That's strike three. Now you're done!

Rico didn't reply to any. He just clicked "Block @RealJakeCross", then set his phone down. Liv got out of the bathroom, Wearing her usual bathrobe. "How's Twitter lookin?" She asked with a grin. "Why're you antagonizing him? You're just making it worse." Liv rolled her eyes and plopped next to him on the bed. "Because I have you to protect me." She said in an almost joking tone. Rico had previously used to joke about being her "protector"... but that was before they were "together".

"Gio, I dunno-" Morgan removed her bathrobe, leaving her only in her underwear. Rico stopped talking immediately. "You need to stop worrying. This' our story, Rico. You... and Me. Not Jake, not Rowan... Just us. Ok?" She said with a soft, caring smile. Rico's tense expression quickly eased. Damn, she was good at making him feel better...

"So is this goodnight, or-?" He began, yet this time he was more than happy to get cut off...
(I know, shes in her ring attire in the photo. I got it from 2k, whadda ya expect?)

Neither one made a move nor motion to stop for a few moments, but in the moment, it seemed like an eternity, as if time itself slowed down so this pocket of space & time could exist just for them...

Liv pulled back after what felt like forever. Usually, they never got time to just enjoy each other's company... They were always so busy!

She uttered the words "I love you..." yawned and drifted off to sleep with her head on his chest, curled up beside him, almost using him like a body pillow.

Now, Rico didn't mind. It just meant he couldn't really move during the night... which was especially bad tonight, because he just couldn't sleep for about an hour. He had a bad feeling... and eventually he had to move his arm due to it going numb from Liv's head on the shoulder for an hour. Liv woke up due to his sudden movement in the middle of the night. "You ok, Rico?" She asked groggily. It's hard to show lots of concern when you're tired, Y'know! "Just... uneasy. That's all." Liv turned onto her side. "I know what makes ya feel better-" she said, barely awake. Rico couldn't help but smile. He tucked his arm over her waist, and they engaged in the centuries year old Couples sleeping method of spooning. (If you don't know what that is... take two spoons and stack em together. That's what it is, only with humans.)

Finally able to take his mind off the day's events, Ricardo Jamison was at ease, and he drifted off to sleep with his best friend (who also happens to be his current Girlfriend) right beside him.

---
Author's note:
I'll be honest. This took half an hour to write, and I started at 4:45 AM and finished at like 5:20 AM. I was tempted to go all Horn-dog for a moment, but then I realized that's not this kinda story 😅

Either way, I have to include that yes, these two are confirmed a thing inside my Universe. This was the night before The Raw After the Rumble took place (obviously). Plans are in place for Bragging Rights, which is Done... except for the Cruise Ship Chaos match. That'll be a real b*tch to write, but i hope Y'all will have as much fun & laughs reading it as I did when writing it. And also, I thought we needed Character Progression. Soooo yeah.

This is RicoTheLegend, Signing off For... tonight? This morning? Uh-
I guess for a few hours 😅
Whatever the case may be...
Just remember...
Stay Safe & $tay Money...

See ya then!