"Holy shit!" Roman barely got the words over his lips as he reached his arm across Dean's chest to stop him from walking.
Dean looked down the hallway and immetiately saw what had made his friend stop.
"When did she get back?" Dean asked.
"I have no idea," Roman answered.
"You haven't spoken to her at all since she...?" Dean asked, leaving the unfinished question hanging in the air.
"Not a word since she left six months ago. I haven't even been able to track her down. It was like she just disappeared from the face of the earth," Roman answered.
"And here she is again," Dean said.
They watched Stephanie come walking towards her, shook her hand and the two women walked away together.
"I need to talk to her," Roman said.
"Of course. We'll find her later. She owes you one hell of an explanation," Dean said.
"What's up with you two?" Seth asked as they met him in the gorilla where he was standing ready for the match.
"Raina's back," Dean answered.
"Shit! For real?" Seth asked.
Roman nodded.
"Crap! You've talked to her yet?" Seth asked.
"Not yet but I will. I don't care if I have to force her into a room and lock the door. She will talk to me," Roman said.
Seth's eyes wandered between his two friends.
"You sure you're up for our match?" Seth asked.
"Too late to back out now. Besides, I'm only there for moral support as Dean kicks your ass," Roman answered.
Raina felt uneasy being back. Six months ago she had run away without a word to anybody and she had hurt people in the process. She had hurt him, Roman, the man who loved her, the man who was always there for her. She hadn't said a word of even left a note. She had just packed her belongings and run off while he was at the arena, having a match, not knowing she was leaving him behind. It wasn't her proudest moment and not a day went by where she didn't blame herself for what she had done.
And now she was back again with the company. After six months where she had hid from everyone, she had finally gotten far enough to reach out to the company again, asking if there was any way she could get back. They didn't know where she had been either. As far as they knew, she had been in rehap for a non-existing drinking problem she had made up when she called them that evening to get out of her contract. They had believed her, released her and told her to get in contact with them if she needed anything.
She left Stephanie's office after signing the contract. It was supposed to be a happy moment but she felt a bunch of things, nervous most of all. Nervous about seeing certain people again. Six months ago her plan had been to never go back there and never get in touch with anybody within the company again but in a weak moment she had reached out to Stephanie and once she was on the phone with her former boss, she was done for it. Stephanie had a way of convincing people and now it was too late to back out.
She walked to the gorilla to greet the backstage workers there, most importantly Triple H who was always sitting there during the shows.
"Raina, welcome back," he said softly as he gave her a hug. "Is everything okay with you?"
"Yes, everything's fine. Thanks for having me back," she answered.
She heard a familiar laughter and as she turned around, she realized, she could hear Dean's entrance music play. That could only mean he had just been in the ring and won but it wasn't his laughter she heard. She turned around to see both Dean and Roman come out. She froze. It was too soon and he was too close. He stopped laughing as he saw her. He looked at her, his eyes piercing through her soul, and she forgot to breathe for a few seconds.
Several people came charging into the gorilla at the same time as Seth joined his friends and the place was getting crowded. A lumberjack match was about to take place. She looked around at every wrestler there and her eyes caught the one person she never wanted to see again. She felt a panic attack drawing near. A hand landed on her arm and she turned her head to see Roman with a hold on her. He didn't look all too pleased and she knew he wanted answers. Answers she wasn't ready to give him.
"I need to get out of here," she whispered, not caring if anyone actually heard her.
"Raina, we need to talk," Roman said firmly.
"Not here," she snapped.
"Tell me when and where and I'll be there," he said.
"I can't," she said as she yanked her arm free of his grip.
She turned around and ran out of the gorilla. She couldn't stand being in there with all of them, with him. She needed air. She ran down the hallway but she never made it outside before she collapsed against the wall and fell to her knees, trying to keep her breathing under control.
"Shit, Raina, it's alright. I'm here," a voice said.
She felt a pair of arms around her and she knew who it was. The one person she put her trust in these days, the one person who had known all along where she had been the past six months. When she knew she had to disappear, she had turned to a person she knew Roman would never suspect her going to. Randy Orton.
At first he had liked the idea simply because he thought it would be fun to be able to stick it to Roman down the line that his girlfriend had been hiding in his house but soon after he had realized that he would never be able to use that secret against her. There was much more hidden under the surface and he had quickly felt the urge to protect her and keep her safe. It wasn't love, not at all. It was a friendship that had grown over the past six months. He knew the truth. He knew what had happened.
"Raina!" Roman called.
He ran towards them, anger starting to rush through his body as he saw Randy with his arms around her.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" Roman growled as he grabbed Randy's arm to drag him away.
Randy quickly snapped back, jumped to his feet and pushed Roman up against the wall. The two men stared each other down.
"Don't go there, boy. You don't have the slightest clue to what's going on," Randy spoke in a low tone.
Roman didn't answer. He pushed Randy away but didn't move. His eyes went back to Raina and he saw how Randy went back to her and helped her up.
"Let's go," Randy said and started leading her down the hallway to get her outside.
Roman couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was she with Randy? Was that why she had left him? Because she had found someone else and run off with him? It would be a typical Randy move but it didn't seem like something she would ever have done and yet there they were, walking away from him together.