All hell seemed to break loose the second Baron walked into the arena. Just a few seconds earlier it had all been nice and quiet outside. He had enjoyed hearing the birds sing as he walked from his bus to the arena. Inside a fight was going on. It wasn't the fight itself that was the biggest surprise. It was who was fighting. Roman and Maddie. A couple that seemed perfect in everyone's eyes, and not once in their two years long relationship had aired any dirty laundry publicly.

"I never lied to you!" She shouted. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I didn't think you were serious because it's not normal!" He shouted back.
"Fuck you, Roman! You want normal? Fine, here's normal for you! We're done!" She shouted.
"Maddie," his voice got softer. "Let's talk about this."
"No, we're done, Roman!" She kept shouting. "There's no coming back from this!"

She stormed down the hallway, locking eyes with Baron for a brief second as she passed him. He started moving his hand, wanting to reach out and grab her, maybe even follow her outside, but he let her run. Roman stormed in the other direction while everyone was still standing there watching. It must have been quite the show. Baron had only gotten the ending. He spotted his best friend Corey further down and hurried towards him.

"Dude, what happened?" Baron asked.
"We were all in catering. Brie and Daniel were going on about wanting a sibling for Birdie, and Roman said that he couldn't wait to have children either," Corey answered.
"Yeah, so?" Baron asked.
"Apparently Maddie doesn't want children, and she told Roman this early in their relationship. He's been lying all along, pretending he doesn't want them either. He just figured she'd change her mind," Corey explained.
"That's bullshit!" Baron started feeling angry.
"I know that, but you know first hand how many people have a hard time accepting when people choose not to have children. It's fucked up. Roman set them both up for heartbreak on that one," Corey said.

Baron felt torn. There was a time he and Maddie had been close. When she had started dating Roman, Baron had pulled away in order to not get his own heart broken. Now he was torn between staying away or going after her. He stayed inside the arena for the show, keeping an eye on her from afar when she came back in to have her match. He didn't talk to her until after the show where he found her out in the parking lot, sitting on her suitcase while going through her phone.

"Hi Maddie," he stopped in front of her. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to find somewhere to rent a car at this hour," she said.
"You're done traveling with Roman?" He asked.
"Really, Baron?" She looked up at him. "You were there for the fight earlier. We're done."
"I got room on my bus," he offered.
"Are you sure you wanna hang out with me again? I wasn't good enough back in the days," she said.
"It was never about that," he sighed. "Come on."

He held out his hand. She looked at it for a second before taking it and allowing him to pull her up on her feet. She grabbed her suitcase and followed him over to his bus and inside of it.

"Just out of curiosity," she let go of her suitcase. "Why didn't you wanna be friends anymore?"
"You seemed happy, and I didn't wanna ruin that," he said.
"How on earth were you gonna ruin my happiness by being my friend?" She asked.
"I don't know," he scratched his head. "It just seemed like the right thing back then. Anyway, this is my bus. I have a double bed, and there's a toilet and shower in here."

He knocked on a door to let her know that was the bathroom.

"A shower on the bus? Luxury," she said.
"Only the best," he grinned. "Charles, get us on the road."
"Charles?" She asked.
"My bus driver," he answered. "So what do you wanna do?"
"Sleep," she said.

He walked her into the bedroom in the back. She looked at the bed, and then up at him. Her pale green eyes could still suck him right in like they used to back in the days when they were friends. Back before she dated Roman. She turned around and started undressing. He watched her back and her medium brown, semi-curly hair that went to the middle of her back. Still so beautiful. Once she was in her panties and tee she climbed under the covers. He undressed to his boxers and joined her. They both laid on their sides, watching each other.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?" He asked.
"Strangely enough, I feel relief. Of course it hurts, but not as much as I thought it would. I mostly feel relief," she answered.
"That's good, isn't it?" He asked.
"I guess so. I'm glad that it all came out now. What if I had ended up marrying him at one point? God, I was honest with him, Baron. I told him on the very first date that if kids were in his future plans he shouldn't ask me out again. Why didn't he believe me?" She asked.
"I don't know," he answered.

He ran a hand through her hair before pulling her close to hug her.

"You didn't deserve that," he said.
"It doesn't matter. What's done is done," she said.
"But still," his fingers ran up and down her back in a soothing manner. "You were honest, and he chose not to believe you. No one deserves that."

She moved back a bit and out of his hug.

"Baron?" She asked softly.
"Yeah?" He looked at her.
"I missed you," she smiled.
"I missed you too," he smiled back.

She woke up next morning with her back against his chest, and his arm wrapped around her waist. His hand was resting on her stomach. She moved her hand down and laced her fingers in between his. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Are you awake?" He asked.
"Mmm," she answered. "This feels good."
"It does," he agreed. "It's been too long since I woke up with a woman in my arms.

She turned around, grabbed both his hands, and held on to them as she placed them between them. Holding hands while looking at each other.

"How long?" She asked.
"Around two years," he answered.
"You haven't gotten laid in two years?" She asked shocked.
"I didn't say that," he laughed. "I've gotten my fair share, but I usually sneak out in the middle of the night. The last woman I actually spent a night with was Sasha. We were just each other's rebounds."
"Who were you rebounding from? You never told me there was someone," she said.
"I never told anyone. I never even told her how I felt," he said. "But there was someone."
"I wish you had told me," she said. "Was that why you ended our friendship? Sometimes it hurts too much to see friends in relationships when we're unhappy ourselves."

This was his chance. He could come clean about all his bottled up feelings about her. Back then he had thought he had time. He had thought he could wait for the right moment. Out of nowhere Roman had moved in and asked her out. Baron had chosen to take a huge step back and let her be with Roman. He had ended their friendship because of it. Because it hurt too much to see her with someone else. He had thought he had time, but it turned out he had waited too long. He could tell her all this now, but he kept it inside.

"Okay, get up," he said.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because I'm taking you out for breakfast," he answered. "Just like in the old days."
"Waffles?" She started grinning.
"You know it," he chuckled.