Today was Stephanie's six month anniversary with her boyfriend, was she spending it in a suite at the Hilton hotel? Nope. Was she spending it looking forward to a romantic weekend break with her boyfriend? Nope, she was spending it in a dingy room at a Motel 6 at the side of a highway, infact so close to the highway that she could hear the cars as they drove by.

Sitting down she sighed heavily as she looked down at the floor that looked like it could do with a good clean or even better an entirely new carpet but apparently she didn't have much of a choice where they stayed.

Walking into the room he frowned at his girlfriend who looked so down. Making his way over to her he sat down on the bed beside her feeling the bed dip beneath his weight as he slid an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him, "what's wrong? I thought you would be happy to be with me?"

Lifting her head she forced a smile before she rested her head on his shoulder, "I am happy to be with you, I just wished we didn't have to stay in shitholes like this. I feel like if I'm not really careful I will catch something."

"Where do you want to stay then?"

Biting her lip she lifted her head and turned on the bed lifting her one leg resting it on the bed so she was more comfortable, "truthfully Paul? I would like to stay in the hotel with everyone else."

Paul frowned, "you know I'm not ready to tell people about us. Things are likely to get really messy when people find out that we are together, I don't want to put us through that."

"We don't have to tell anyone that we are together, we just don't have to hide it like this." Motioning around her she wanted him to understand they didn't need to be hiding this much.

Crossing his arms he shook his head, "but if we were in that hotel then people still could see us and the word could go around and it could all change. Let's not talk about them though, let's just enjoy the fact that we can spend our anniversary together."

Moving closer to her he slipped his arms around her pulling her closer to him as he kissed her gently on the lips wanting to celebrate in the best way he knew how.

Sighing gently against his lips she felt like he was trying to emotionally manipulate her tonight and she just couldn't do it. Slowly pulling away from the kiss she shook her head, "not tonight, I'm not in the mood."

Nodding his head in acknowledgement he pulled away, "I guess I will go and shower then."

Sitting there and watching as he walked back into the bathroom she felt like she was almost on a slippery slope back to singledom because they just didn't seem able to agree on how to take the relationship forward and if they couldn't agree on that what hope was there for them?

Getting undressed as she heard the shower turn on she climbed into bed and lay on her side facing the wall away from the empty side of the bed.

Standing under the shower he didn't know what to do with himself, he loved that woman, he wanted to be with her but he just wasn't ready to tell anyone about them.

After showering he walked back into the bedroom and took a moment to admire how beautiful she looked laying in the bed before he pulled some pants on and climbed into bed beside her. Shuffling closer to her he rolled onto his side and pressed himself against her back draping his arm over her waist before he kissed her shoulder, "I love you baby, goodnight."

Keeping her eyes tightly shut she pretended that she was fast asleep. She was so conflicted tonight and just didn't want to say it back to him despite how deeply she felt it.

The next morning they both got up and got dressed before they made their way to the arena for the show that evening separating as soon as they arrived as they both had their own thing to do.

Stephanie was sat in the conference room waiting for the production meeting to start when Paul entered and he took a seat beside her, he didn't normally sit with her so she took this as a good sign that maybe he was coming around to her way of thinking. When the meeting began his hands were in his lap beneath the table so she slipped her hand across to hold his but as her fingers slid into his he pulled his hand away and placed them both on the table so she couldn't try it again. Moving her hand back to her lap she looked down at the table to try and hide the pain she felt in her heart.

After the meeting ended she quickly made her way out of the room to take a few moments to herself before she began her work. She was so distracted she didn't hear anyone calling her name until Paul grabbed her arm and she jumped spinning around to face him ready to hit whoever it was that grabbed her but relaxed when she saw Paul, "oh it's you."

Smiling at his girlfriend he released her arm and shoved his hands into his pockets, "I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch and go up into the stands to eat it together?"

When he suggested eating it made her happy, when he then said going up into the stands it destroyed all happiness and she felt sad again, "I can't, my Mom has texted me and I promised her I would call her now so I will see you later."

Paul just nodded his head and allowed her to leave not quite being able to put a finger on why it felt like something was so off between the to him.

Walking away from her boyfriend she hoped her Mom could spare some time as she could really use some advice that only her Mom could give. Entering her locker room she shut and locked the door behind her before she took a seat on the couch in the far corner of the room and picked up her cell phone calling her Mom.

Listening to the phone ring out she was desperate for her to answer and when she did she could almost cry with relief, "Mommy, I'm so happy to hear your voice."

Linda had been hard at work but then her cell phone had rung and she saw her daughter's name and she had to answer it and when she heard her daughter calling her 'Mommy' she knew it was bad, "Steph baby, what's going on?"

Pulling her knees to her chest she held her legs with her one arm, "I don't know what to do Mom, I love him but at the same time he is breaking my heart."

Standing up from her seat at the desk she went and sat down on the couch, "what has he done?"

"Yesterday was our six month anniversary, he took me to a freaking Motel 6 off the highway. I tried talking to him about staying at an actual hotel but he's 'still not ready' for anyone to know about us, I don't even know if he has even told anybody in his family about us. It's been six months Mom, I feel like a dirty little secret and it's killing me slowly and I'm not even sure if I can continue."

Linda listened to her daughter talk and she wished she could be there to give her a hug like only a Mom could, "I'm sorry baby. You know I love Paul as a person but if he is going to treat you like that then maybe you need to have a really long talk with him and be completely honest with him about how he is making you feel."

Her eyes were full of water and a wrong word and she would be in pieces, "I've tried telling him how much it hurts that we have to hide things so deeply and he just doesn't get it. He says he loves me but how can he love me if he wants to hide me?"

She wanted to give her daughter comfort but she had to be honest with her, "then maybe he doesn't know what love is? Maybe he needs to lose the best thing he is ever likely to have before he realises how great he had it."

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut she felt the tears start to fall, it was exactly what her heart knew, "and if he never realises how great he had it?"

Playing with the arm of the couch Linda felt like shit, "if he never realises it then that will be his loss. Stephanie you are my daughter and I love you but it breaks my heart to see, or well hear in this case, you in so much pain. I'm sure Paul does love you but until he is ready to be truly honest with himself, with you, with other people then you will never truly be happy together and I don't want that for you."

Wiping at the tears she took a deep breath, "thank you Mom, this is exactly what I needed."

Unsure of how it could be what her daughter needed she was grateful that she could help, "well I am glad I could help you but you know where I am if you need me and if it gets too much today and you need a hug you know where your Dad is."

Laughing softly she cried a few more tears, "and he would think I was crazy. Thanks anyway Mom."

"Don't be strong Steph, if you need a hug go to him, he won't think anything of you because secretly he likes it when you lean on him, it makes him feel strong."

"Okay okay, thanks Mom. I will let you get back to your work and I will splash some water on my face so people can't see I was crying before I go back to work."

Standing up Linda sighed heavily, "I'm sorry Steph. We'll catch up in the week and go to lunch, just the two of us."

The two women said their goodbye's before they both hung up and Stephanie went to the adjoined bathroom whilst Linda sent her husband a text:

If Stephanie comes to you needing a hug then don't ask questions or make fun of her, just do it.

For the rest of the day Stephanie avoided Paul as much as she could, the last thing she needed right now was to face him because her emotions were all over the place so the only time she was around him was when they had to do their scenes for the show.

As their last scene came to an end and the other people in the room left Paul turned to his girlfriend, "so I was thinking we could do dinner tonight?"

As she listened to him ask her out for dinner she couldn't help the question that passed her lips, "where would we go?"

"Well there's this little restaurant that I found online that is a little out of the way but it has some amazing reviews so I'm sure the food will be great and we won't be seen so it will be perfect."

Lifting her hands to cover her face she sighed heavily and tried not to cry as she realised what she had to do. Dropping her hands to her sides she nervously played with the bottom of her top, "I can't keep doing this Paul, it's over."

Brushing passed him she had to get out of their before she cried but stopped when he grabbed her arm, "what do you mean Steph?"

Not looking back at him because she couldn't she said, "I can't keep doing this, I can't keep being your dirty little secret that you don't want to tell anybody about and that you don't want to be seen out with. Until you are ready to be honest with yourself and other people about this relationship then I can't be in it."

Pulling her arm from his grasp she practically ran out of the room and in doing so she ran straight into her Father's arms wrapping her arms around him tightly she buried her head in his chest and cried unable to hold it together any longer.

He was going to ask Stephanie if she wanted to catch dinner after the show having needed to take a bathroom break so was in the area. He had nearly reached her locker room as the door burst open and out ran his daughter and straight into his arms he held her tightly not having any idea what happened but she was his baby girl and he would always be there for her. Giving her a moment to cry he gently pulled her back by the shoulders, "are you okay?"

Nodding her head she quickly wiped at her face, "I'm fine, I'll be fine."

Not entirely believing her he thought she needed some space so would believe her, "why don't you go to my office and lock the door, I will text you when I am coming so you can unlock the door but it will give you some privacy and nobody has to know where you are."

Smiling softly she was so grateful for her Dad tonight, "thank you Daddy."

Watching his daughter walk away he wanted to ask Paul what he had said but then he realised he needed to be a supportive Father and allow her to come to him in her own time so he turned around to go back to work.

It had been an hour since the show had ended and Vince had done everything else he needed to do and had even gotten his daughter's bags together before he sent her a text to tell her that he was returning to his office.

As he pushed the door to his office open his heart broke when he saw her sat on the couch with her knees to her chest looking the most heartbroken he had ever seen her, "come on you. I have a limo waiting to take us out to dinner wherever you want to go, we can even just have ice cream if it will make you feel better."

Forcing a smile she got up from the couch finally noticing he had all of her bags, "you got my stuff?"

Vince nodded his head, "I figured it would take less time if I grabbed your stuff all ready so now we can just leave."

Getting his own things together he took hold of her luggage and his own, "now let's get out of here before someone finds more work for us to do."

Following her Dad out of the room she slid her arm under his and gripped it tightly, "thank you Daddy."

Climbing into the limo she waited for her Dad to join her and as he did she cuddled up to his side and rested her head on his shoulder, "I love you Daddy."

Kissing the top of his daughter's head he rubbed her arm gently, "I love you too baby girl. So what happened? You're so sad and it breaks my heart."

Sighing she closed her eyes as her head rested on his shoulder still, "I broke up with my boyfriend. He wasn't ready to tell anybody about us after six months and I'm not going to be anybody's secret."

He was shocked to hear that his daughter had been seeing someone for six months as he had had no idea whatsoever that she was in a relationship, "as you shouldn't be. You're beautiful and intelligent and if he is too stupid to see how amazing you are and doesn't want to show you off to the entire world then that is not your problem. You will find somebody who is more than happy to shout it from the rooftops how much he loves you."

"Thank you Daddy."

Pulling his daughter just that little bit closer and holding her that little bit tighter he kissed the top of her head hoping that in some small way he had helped her, "you're welcome."

Paul had stood in the shadows of the arena watching and waiting for Stephanie to leave so he could tackle her about what she had said but as he watched her walk out with her Dad he lost all bottle not wanting him to know what they had been doing behind his back and just turned to head to his car to go and get some food for himself before he went back to the hotel . . . alone.