A/N: I own nothing, except my OC, Angela. Just for the record, I am a fan of both Batista and Melina, but I've been wanting to do a Sheamus story for a while and when I came up with this idea I had to run with it. Thank you for reading :).

Prologue.

November 2006 – Manchester, England

Her heart pounded in her ears with every pull, as 'What a Waster' by The Libertines played at a higher than listenable volume.

Beads of sweat poured down Angela's face as she tried to keep her breathing steady and as the weights on the lat pulldown hit the remaining stack with unnecessarily loud bangs, resulting in glares from nearby gym members.

Tears started to sting her eyes once again as she struggled not to think about what she had just seen. The memory of it all would not stop flashing in her mind. Seeing her on top of him, their clothes sprawled out clumsily all over the hotel room, hearing him moaning her name the moment before Angela caught them, him insincerely apologizing as he put his pants back on.

Out of the corner of her eye Angela could see the flip phone, on the floor beside her, flashing and vibrating as it lay on top of the white towel.

She continued pulling at the weights and ignored the phone as it lit up about five more times before stopping. A tear rolled down her flushed right cheek as her upper body spasmed and she gazed towards the ceiling, trying to maintain composure in the public place.

As the opening beats from Led Zeppelin's 'When the Levee Breaks' started to play Angela finally let go of the wide bar and closed her eyes as she rested her head against the back of the machine. Opening her eyes, she paused the song and pulled the headphones out of her ears before stepping over the side of the machine and reaching for her phone.

While remaining seated, she opened her phone to see that she had received three missed calls, all from the same number. As she stared at the screen a light reflected from her left hand.

She shakily lifted her left hand and gritted her teeth as she inspected the hedonistic engagement ring.

She struggled to pull the ring off of her sweaty finger when an excited voice called out of nowhere.

"Angie!" Angela quickly wiped the tears from her face, as she turned to her left to see a young auburn haired girl. "Angie Sapphire, is that really you?"

Angela looked around the gym to make sure no one noticed. "It's me." She tried to crack a smile. "Hi, how are ya?" Angela asked with a strained voice as she picked up her belongings.

"I'm good. I'm Holly, my dad owns this gym. We're both huge fans!" The English girl grinned from ear to ear.

"Glad to hear. Thanks." Angela's tired voice grew higher, before she drank a large gulp of water.

"Can I have an autograph?" Holly held out a black felt tip pen and a small notepad.

"Sure." Angela grabbed the pen and quickly scribbled her stage name. She looked up from the paper and did a double take towards a man who was about to enter the gym; her eyes were immediately drawn to his hip where a large camera rested.

'For fuck's sake!' She rolled her eyes.

"I gotta go take a shower." She turned before Holly could reply.

'We are the people that can find whatever you may need,

If you got the money honey we got your disease,

In the jungle, welcome to the jungle'

Stephen lifted the weights along to the beat of the loud Guns N' Roses song.

After his first stint with the WWE, playing security against D-Generation X, he had just received the exciting news of a try out match against his friend Drew Galloway.

Though he was remaining realistic about his chances he concluded that this was a huge opportunity, even just to get noticed and get his foot in the door. It was finally happening.

After six more repetitions Stephen called it a day and set the weights down, he didn't want to over do it. He then grabbed the towel beside him to pat himself dry.

As he wiped the sweat off of his neck he noticed a few people chatting enthusiastically near the entrance of the gym. His eyebrows furrowed when he observed the man who had his back to Stephen, a high quality digital camera was slung on a strap over his shoulder and rested on his hip.

He grabbed the bottle of water at his feet and took a swig as he sat up. He yanked the headphones out of his ears and turned around, about to make his way for the showers, when he bumped into something, or rather someone.

"Oh, sorry." A feminine voice apologized quietly.

"No problem." Stephen subconsciously held out his arms to steady the small figure in front of him, softly grabbing her shoulders, eyes widening when he realised who she was. "Wait. Are you…?"

"Yeah," she sighed, knowing what he was about to ask, "Yeah, I am." The soft Australian accent locked in Stephen's guess.

He was standing in front of WWE diva Angie Sapphire, current Women's Champion, former two-time Cruiserweight Champion and multiple time Hardcore Champion. Her talent, wit and looks had made her very popular around the world.

His hands immediately shot to his sides when he realised he was still holding her shoulders. "Sorry."

She gave a small smile and turned to walk away, when Stephen noticed her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were slightly blotchy. She had been crying. "Are you okay?"

"Uh," Angie's lip trembled slightly as she struggled to answer.

Suddenly the phone in her right hand rang. She opened the phone and Stephen became puzzled when he saw her jaw clench. His eyes found their way to the screen to see the name Dave. The large diamond on her left hand also caught his attention, how could it not?

What Angie did next confused Stephen even more; she let out a dry laugh and slammed the phone shut, hanging up on her fiancé. She looked back at Stephen and raised her eyebrows when she saw that he was peeking.

"None of me business," Stephen mumbled, "sorry."

The Australian diva just shook her head and looked back down at her phone the very moment it buzzed again. She scoffed and flung the phone open, ready to shut it again, when she glanced at the screen and furrowed her eyebrows. She took a few steps away from Stephen as she answered the call this time.

"Hi, Jay." She greeted, trying to break a smile and sound as cheerful as she could. "What…" She stopped talking and the smile disappeared as she listened to the person on the other line.

Stephen knew he should have walked away, but he didn't. As he stood watching he could see why her looks had made her so well liked, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Though she wasn't exactly in the state he normally saw her in on television, she was stunning.

She had obviously just gotten out of the shower as her thick, chestnut brown hair hung in loose curls as it soaked into her tight, mint green t-shirt, just below her shoulder blades. Her skin was almost as fair as Stephen's, but she had southern European features, brown eyes, long straight nose, full lips and dark, slightly unkempt eyebrows that somehow suited her, quite like a young Brooke Shields.

Angie started to shake as the caller continued to speak. Stephen couldn't tell if she was just cold, with her being Australian and wearing a short sleeve top during the middle of November in England, or if she was crying.

He finally stepped away to mind his own business when his eyes were drawn back to the man with the camera. The camera was now dormant in his right hand, finger ready on the button.

"Angie, I don't know how to…" Jay Reso, otherwise known as Christian, stammered over the phone, "I saw Dave…".

"I-I know." Angela pressed a finger into her tear duct as she felt her throat constrict. "I don't wanna talk about this now, Jay…" She finally let a cry out, her voice high-pitched and shaky as she spoke.

"Okay." Jay sighed, obviously at a loss for words. "Where are you Ange?"

"I'm at a gym near the hotel, I forget what it's called."

Angela suddenly felt eyes on her and turned to see the fair skinned man she bumped into staring at her with a worried look on his face, his eyes switching quickly from her to the gym entrance.

Two flashes of light hit her the instant her eyes travelled to the door.

"Shit!" Angela hissed aloud as the cameraman held the camera up once more. The second another flash hit, the large Irishman stepped in front of her and dragged her away before she could comprehend what was happening.

She was led past the showers and was stopped, to her surprise, at a door next to what looked like the staff lunch room.

"Ah think this is the staff exit." The man let go of her and rubbed the short, ginger stubble on his chin. "Or the fire exit. We'll soon find out, Ah guess." He chuckled.

Angela shook her head and she returned a short laugh as she slowly came to terms with what just happened. "Thank you." A glint of a smile appeared on her lips as she got a better look at the towering man standing next to her, for a moment her light brown eyes meeting his sincere blue ones. She thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Ange!" Angela jumped as the phone in her hand vibrated from Jay's yelling.

"Shit." She swore once again as she pulled the forgotten phone to her ear. "Sorry Jay."

"What's going on?" Jay questioned, not hiding the worried tone in his voice.

"I don't know. Someone from the press, I think." Angela groaned, squeezing the bridge of her nose as she started to feel a headache coming along. "I need a drink and one large aspirin." She took the speaker away from her ear and turned to the Irishman, who hadn't budged.

She stole a look at his toned biceps, revealed under a grey, sleeveless hoodie. She'd seemed to have finally found someone who was whiter than she was; the only colour on his skin came from the dusting of freckles.

"Thank you, uh…" She gave him a sincere smile and held out her hand.

"Oh, Stephen. Stephen Farrelly." He introduced himself and shook her hand.

"Angela Vella." She introduced her proper name and grasped his hand.

Stephen reluctantly let go and looked at what she was wearing. "Aren't ya gonna be cold, lass? You could get sick."

She looked down at what she had on and huffed. "Probably." She crossed her arms. "I'll be fine though. Thank you." She thanked him again and cringed as she opened the door, thinking an alarm might go off, fortunately it didn't but she cringed again when the cold air hit her.

Angela shivered uncontrollably as she put the phone to her ear once more. "J-Jay?"

"Ange, come back to the hotel." The worry grew in Jay's voice. "Don't do anything you'll regret."

"I can't go back there. Ah!" Angela screamed as a pain shot to her temples.

"What? Why not?"

"We were sharing a hotel room." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke about Dave. "Look, I'm just gonna get a drink to warm myself up. I didn't grab any clothes and I'm only wearing a shirt and track pants.I only have enough money for one drink anyway."

"You can get hypothermia like that you know." Jay insisted. "You can stay with me and Denise tonight, she says she has something you can wear. We can get your things in the morning."

"All right." Angela mumbled, she felt like a damsel in distress. "There's a pub just near here. I will tell you what it's called when I get there."

"Don't drink too much. I don't wanna find you in a pool of your own vomit."

Angela would have taken that as a joke if it weren't for the tone in his voice that went from worried to serious.

"You should have seen the poor lass' face though," Stephen remarked as he followed his friend Stu Bennett into the quaint pub. Drew Galloway followed closely behind. He had just been telling them about the little celebrity drama he'd encountered at the gym.

"You in love Stephen?" Stu joked as they made their way to the bar.

"Whatever," Stephen rolled his eyes, "but something's happened."

"Stop worrying, mate." Drew chimed in. "We've got more important things to worry about." He said, speaking of the try out match they had coming up.

"Yeah, you're right." Stephen rubbed his hand over his shaved head, the short hairs scratching his palm. He was worried about something that had absolutely nothing to do with him and someone he might not ever see again.

But then, he looked over to the bartender to order a drink when he saw her.

Angela was seated at the bar with a half empty pint of lager, she was in a trance as she seemed fixated on something in her hands. Her washed hair had now dried and the curls had gotten thicker.

Without thinking, he sauntered up to her, not realizing that Stu and Drew were on his tail. As he got closer, he saw that she had taken her engagement ring off of her finger and was deep in thought as she scrutinized it.

"What's she drinking?" Stephen asked the bartender standing in front of Angela, causing her to startle out of her daze, a flicker of recognition showing on her face.

"Carlsberg." The bartender answered shortly.

"I'll have the same." Drew spoke up.

"A pint of Stella for me." Stu ordered his drink.

"Ah'll have a Guinness, thanks." Said Stephen as he noticed Angela hid the ring, clasped tightly in her palm.

She took a large gulp of her beer and turned to Stephen as the bartender set the drinks down.

"I'm not really in the mood for stalkers right now." She remarked, causing Stu and Drew to cackle behind Stephen, who couldn't tell if she was annoyed or just playing with him.

Chuckling, Stephen took a sip of his pint before speaking, "oh, no, it's nothing like that. This is merely coincidence."

Angela nodded slowly and took a sip of her beverage.

"Besides, this is probably not the best place for a lass to be hanging out alone, late at night." Stephen warned. "Especially when she has a ring that's worth who knows how much." He gestured to the extravagant piece of jewellery in Angela's hand.

"Even if the lass can kick a fella's arse." He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

A length silence filled the bar as Angela pulled the ring back out of her hand and inspected it. "How much do you think this ring is worth?" She reiterated what Stephen had said.

"Why?" Stu asked as all three men looked on in confusion.

"I'm thinking about selling it." Angela laughed coldly. "A charity could use that sort of money." She took another gulp of her drink and squinted at the guys.

"You're all men right?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Well," Stu snorted, "I don't know about these two, but…"

"Maybe you can help me understand something." Angela took one last swig of her beer. "Why would you propose to someone, promise to cherish them for the rest of your life and then, not even two months later, you have sex with someone else?"

The three large men stood speechless, looking like goldfish as they opened and closed their mouths, unable to come up with any answers.

"He cheated on you?" Stephen voice grew lower and he shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Drew mumbled. "Has someone said something…"

"Well, that's the gist of what I got when I saw that bitch on top of him, naked." Angela's attention was turned back to the ring again. "This thing is disgusting." She recoiled and then looked up back at the guys.

"He's a moron." Stu tried to cheer her up.

"Yeh know how many men would probably kill to be wit' ya?" Stephen didn't know Angela, but he thought any man who would cheat on her would have to be out of his mind.

"Just not my fiancé, though, huh?" Angela scoffed. Stephen could see tears starting to flood her eyes. She cleared her throat quickly and blinked as she changed the subject.

"I feel like I've seen you two before." She tilted her head and pointed at the Irish and Englishman.

"We were part of the security team for DX." Stu explained. "You may have seen Stephen get Pedigreed." He snickered.

As Stephen rolled his eyes, Angela looked at him apologetically. "Oh, I've been there." She winced. "How's your head?"

"Better." He smiled.

"Are you guys wrestlers?" Angela asked.

"Don't laugh," Stephen murmured, "but yes we are. We have a try out match coming up." He pointed to himself and Drew.

Angela furrowed her brows. "Why would I laugh?"

"Ah guess it just seems farfetched. Especially for a pasty skinned, Irishman to make it into the WWE." Stephen explained.

Angela couldn't contain a snort of laughter and clasped a hand over her mouth.

"I thought you wouldn't laugh!" Stephen barked.

"Oh no," Angela shook her head. "It's not what you think…" She giggled some more and paused, studying Stephen. "I'm a pasty skinned, five foot four girl from Australia." She smirked. "If I can make it, I honestly think anyone can."

Stephen couldn't help but grin at how genuine and sincere this woman was.

"Angie!" A man called and Angela sighed as she looked over at the entrance of the pub.

Stephen looked over his shoulder to see WWE superstar Christian, who was eyeing him and his two mates suspiciously.

"Come here." Christian sighed, holding his arms out. Angela got up from her stool and squeezed him tightly. "How you feeling?"

"Jay," Angela yawned, "I'll be fine. I promise." It had obviously been a long night.

Christian, or Jay, looked back over at the guys. "Who are your friends?"

"Uh," Angela struggled, "this is Stephen," she pointed to the Irishman, "I'm sorry, I don't really know…" She looked on apologetically at the other two when she realised they hadn't been introduced.

"Stu Bennett." Stu held his glass up and nodded.

"Drew Galloway." Drew waved and smiled.

"Um, Stephen kinda rescued me at the gym." Angela explained how she knew Stephen. "Thanks again. I was impressed. A little bewildered, but still."

"It's no big deal," Stephen waved dismissively. "Ah used to be a security guard."

"Well, thanks anyway." Angela started to shiver again. "These guys are gonna be huge stars in the WWE." She looked over to Christian.

"Really?" Christian pondered. "Well, best of luck."

"Cheers, man." Stephen raised his pint.

"I promise not everyone in the WWE is this dramatic." Angela jested, pursing her lips into a smile and all four men chortled. How she kept a sense of humour during a situation like this, Stephen will never know.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you guys." Angela acknowledged, walking backwards towards the exit. "Hopefully we can meet again in better circumstances." She glanced at Stephen and smiled before turning to leave.