As I lifted in the gym, nothing could break my good mood as my arms burned. A lot had changed on camera since Stephanie's announcement she ran Exodus, but backstage everything was the same. June and I had dropped our belts to some new comers who deserved it. These two girls had been down at FCW too long and we met them while doing a signing. They had such drive they easily became our top pick for competitors even if they had yet to be on television. We talked to creative and had a whole story line set up with them. They ended up jumping us out of nowhere, causing quick interest to form. Even when we had a match and beat them, we had them play dirty after. When the rest of Exodus came for the rescue, they would escape through the crowd. Finally we told them we would give them their title match at a pay per view. There was a lot of growling on my part with our promos, and watching it back, it's hilarious. They were nervous so we invited them to a week of training and planning out at my apartment. That they accepted, cutting off everyone to focus on 15 minutes (if we were lucky) showed they had the fire and deserved the shot. It was also great for us to get to know and mentor the new talent. It was a hard fought match that ended with June being tossed out of the ring, and a cheap shot when the ref wasn't looking to me so they could get the pin. June was checking the reports and twitter while Matt was driving us to the following Raw, freaking out how people were saying it was one of , if not, the best Diva's match in years. No one thought we would lose, so it was a shock. The dirt sheets predicted this was going to have us turn heel, but Stephanie had other plans for now.

Stephanie had been pushing the Ricardo and my relationship angle more, because I was starting a new feud with Alberto starting soon. All three of us involved seemed excited. Alberto was going to start it going that Ricky's IC title win was a fluke. He was going to put him down saying he is weak and needs a woman to protect him when I came to defend. Other than that, we weren't sure where it was going to go yet but we all thought Alberto would be trying to go after Ricardo's title. The last few weeks was about Ricardo proving himself, Alberto watching, and developing our relationship on screen.

However, things had gotten a little weird lately and I have no clue why. Ricardo was almost distance and seemed to have something on his mind. I was worried he was hurt and not telling anyone at first. There were even a few times he left early to go home and didn't stay at the hotel with me. Then I thought he was seeing someone and having issues with her. I would hope he would tell me if we were because I would love to meet her. I wondered if our on screen relationship was hurting that, and I would be more than willing to talk to whomever she was. I would even give up my roommate if it made her lay off on him. I would do anything for him, he was definitely one of the best friends I have ever had, and I'm glad Stephanie forced us to work together.

I walked into the hotel room relieved to see Ricardo's bag in the corner. On the bed was a note on one of the hotel note pads saying he had to go talk to Alberto and would be back soon. I smiled glad he had left it, and went to my own bag to grab something clean to change into after my shower. We lucked out with this hotel having an amazing shower with enough water pressure to actually get shampoo out of your hair. When you are on the road so much you quickly learn water pressure is hit or miss. The simple things. While I was changing I heard the hotel room door open. I gave out a holler, so he knew I was in the room, but I couldn't hear his response. I walked out in shorts and a tank top drying my hair with a towel. Then I saw Ricardo's face. Something was wrong.

I quickly moved to him before he even knew what happened.

"Ricky, what happened? Are you ok? Who do I have to kill?" He didn't say anything I just sat next to him where he was on the bed. "Jesús, talk to me. What happened with Alberto? Did something happen with the girl?" We'll mentioning the girl got his attention. He turned to look at me his face full of confusion.

"What girl?" he said lowly.

"With you leaving early, and looking extra stressed I was thinking you were seeing someone and there was drama maybe because of our scenes and rooming together. I was planning to let you know if you needed me to talk to her, or stop being my roommate it was ok. I first thought you were injured and not telling me, but I thought maybe that was the reason."

"There is no girl," he looked back down at his hands.

"Is your family ok?" I was getting panicked. We never had a problem talking to each other until recently. "Did I do something?" He stiffened under my hand that was on his back with that. Fuck. "I'm so sorry, Ricky. I had no clue I did anything. Just let me know what I did and I'll make it up to you. I don't want whatever it is to ruin our friendship and make working together weird. You are too important to me." He took a deep breathe.

"That's the problem, Lynne, I can't do this anymore." I felt as if my heart was shattering. "I can't be just your friend." Now I was confused.

"Ricky, I don't understand."

"Lynne, I can't be your friend. Not with how I'm feeling. I'm I'm falling in love with you." It was a shock that coming from his mouth, and he couldn't look at me while he said it. "I can't hold you every night knowing that's it. I can't just kiss you on screen and not have the ability to do it whenever I want to. I thought I could. I want more. We both know there is the attraction there, and it's getting to be too much for me to ignore. I hate when we hang out with our friends as third wheels, when we shouldn't have to. I know we had talked about focusing on our goals, but we reached some of them." I really had no clue what to say. Yea, I probably thought the same things at time, but I ignored them. Part of it because I wanted to believe I had to stay focused. That I couldn't be distracted. The other part, because I knew he could do so much better than me and didn't want to hold him back. "Why did you think there was another girl?"

"Because of how awesome you are. You are a good looking guy, with a great sense of humor, and a lot of fun to be around. You deserve someone who can make you happy."

"And you don't think you could do that?"

"I just think you have a lot of better options," I said softly. We'll that snapped his head up. Now he seemed shocked.

"Better options? I just told you I was falling in love with you. When I look at look you I see no one else, Ly."

"Then you might want to get your eyes checked, Ricky, because that might be a problem."

"Don't put yourself down like that. Where is this coming from?" Shit. Ricardo had only seen my strong yet shy confident side, and now with the stress of worrying about him I was breaking.

"What? It's the truth. I'm nothing special. And you could do a lot better." I went to get up and escape to the bathroom but he reached out pulling me back to sitting next to him.

"Why do you think like that?"

"I told you it's the truth."

"Who told you that? Who hurt you so bad you think so poorly of yourself? Especially when you are the most beautiful girl I've ever met inside and out."

"Look around backstage and the answer should be clear enough. I just want you to be happy."

"When I'm with you I am. That's why I want more, that's why what we have isn't enough for me anymore. I want you. And only you. Alberto told me I should stop hiding my feelings and to do something about it. You just came back into the room before I was prepared to talk and all."

"You went to Alberto to ask advice?" I questioned.

"I told you he's a good guy. I couldn't exactly go to any of our other friends. It would've gotten back to you. Plus they all seem to think we are secretly sleeping together anyway or at least like to tease us about it. It's been so hard the last few weeks with what we've been shooting to try and push the feelings aside. And the goal excuse just isn't good enough for me anymore. I have a new goal, and it's that I want to be with you. I want to love you and walk around with people knowing you hold my heart."

"What happens if I can't handle that though," I said with my head down.

"You won't know unless you try."

"And then I fuck things up, and you are completely out of my life." He pulled me into his arms.

"And why would you think that would happen?"

"Because it will."

"I will do everything in my power to make sure it won't. I promise you though, I won't let you go, because I don't think that will happen. So I finally found a weakness in you. You aren't indestructible, and I want to fill that void and prove you wrong."

"When did these feelings start?" I got out while leaning on him.

"They were there. We had that talk and all. But the moment I knew it was going to be so much harder to ignore was when we all got trapped in that locker room. All you could think about what helping Matt and June. You didn't even hesitate climbing into fricking vent if that was the only way we could get out. You always do stuff like that for other people. That was a little bit of an extreme, but it was that moment I knew."

"So when I stripped down huh?" I told him attempting to lighten the mood.

"I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed the view. But giving you the lift with not knowing what would happen while touching you was hard. Then watching you talk to Stephanie's daughter sealed the deal officially. I can't just be your friend, Lynne. I wish I could, but with these feelings I can't. Please, let me do for you what you do for everyone else. Let me love you."

I just remained curled in his arms. It always felt right, but at the moment knowing I wasn't the only one with feelings, made it feel even better. I had the fears I guess most people did when starting something new. He was right, we had already reached the original goal I had put the excuse for. Our friends seemed to be able to keep a working relationship and it worked out for them. "I know you are scared, but don't be. I'm here. Please."

I looked up from where I was resting on his shoulder, and he was looking down on me. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. Yea, we were practically making out every week on television but his was different. He was letting his emotions get behind it. The passion flowed between us. I opened my mouth and he slipped his tongue inside. My hands managed to move up and get tangled in his hair as he slowly leaned me back on the bed. Before I knew it Ricardo was on top of me. He moved to my neck.

"Does this mean you are willing to try?" he asked sitting up pinning my arms above my head. We had been in this position training and sparring for many times, in a bed was so much different. I wanted him to kiss me again. I wanted him to make me feel loved. I wanted him to make me his. I couldn't fight the feelings and emotions anymore. Not after what that one unscripted kiss just did to me.

"Yes, help me believe in myself. Help me not be afraid. Let me know what it's liked to be loved. I'm tired of ignoring what is between us. I want to let someone take control and take care of me every once in a while. I want you. June noticed my little crush even before Exodus. People might not have noticed you, Ricky, but I always have. I'm falling for you too, and I don't want my insecurities to make me miss out on anything else." I lifted my hips up into his, and he let out a growl.

"That's all I needed to hear," he told me with a grin. He leaned back down taking the control. He rolled over so I was on top of him. I think it was his way of saying we were both in control. We made out for a bit and then he got braver and I felt his hands move up from my waist where they were, moving up, taking my tank top with then. He was slow and unsure with it, but I didn't stop him. Being I was ready for bed w the tank top, there was nothing under it. He paused, breaking the kiss just to look. "So beautiful" he mumbled. He rolled us over again so he could take off his, and then leaned down letting our skin press together. My nipples hardened and his chest hair tickled them as he rubbed against me skin to skin. Out of nowhere I was flipped again so that I was up on my knees with Ricardo behind me. "I have had this imagine in my mind for so long," he whispered in my ear sending chills through my body. He reached around cupping my breast, as his mouth slowly kissed down to my angel wing and skull tattoo. I then felt his tongue start to trace the designs. His hands squeezed and massaged my chest, as well as keeping me from falling forward. "Open your eyes." He said between licks. I listened and saw that the mirror across the room showed exactly what he was doing to me. It just made the whole moment even hotter. I couldn't hold myself to be the submissive too much longer and soon he was back under me. What clothing was left was soon gone and there was no longer anything in between us. He only left the bed to grab a condom but other than that our bodies were pressed together until we finally became one.

After we both laid in bed arms wrapped around each other, covered in only sweat and a blanket, completely satisfied. Yea this man could do more with his tongue than just roll his Rs. Damn, I was getting hot again just thinking about it.

"That was better than I ever imagined," he told me. I said nothing but nodded my head where it rested on his chest. "I feel bad your shower earlier was a waste."

"It's ok. You need one too, so we can always save water and all."

"Definitely a plus," he laughed. We chatted a little bit when he randomly brought up when he knew he was falling for me again. "You know that day, I was so jealous of Paul."

"Why?" I said with a laugh recalling dropping down from the ceiling on him and Brock.

"You looked so hot in his suit jacket, especially when I knew what was underneath. It actually made me miss my tux." I laughed.

"We'll if your kitties allow me to come over, where your jacket is, we'll see what we can remake that moment." He kissed the top of my head.

"My cats love you, so I really don't have a problem. Before I got the guts to talk to Alberto, they've been my support team to talk to. They seemed to approve, or just wanted dinner. I'm unsure." I snuggled closer to him.

"I'm sorry I took so long to let this happen," I told him.

"Lynne, it was completely worth the wait. And I can't wait to see where it goes for the two of us."

That was the last thing I remembered, before giving into sleep. I was awoken the next morning by my phone going off with "In the End" blasting. That meant it was one of the girls (all the guys had their originally themes) calling. I rolled away from Ricardo to pick it up.

"Hello," I asked trying to be quiet because Ricardo was still asleep.

"You…Lunch…Girls Only." June screamed in my ear.

"Um, why?"

"Because we haven't done it in forever. And Daryl and I just decided because we are bored."

"What time are you two thinking?" I asked as I felt Ricardo curl back behind me, putting a kiss on my back.

"An hour?"

"Yea, that's fine. I'll see you then." I hung up and laid back into Ricardo's chest.

"What did the ladies want?" he asked.

"I'm being dragged to a girl's only lunch. Ugh, I don't want to go."

"I don't want you to go either. But it should be amusing to see if they know what we've been up to or not."

"We'll if they figure out be warned. They will threaten you, only because I did the same to all their boyfriends. Two while in completely ring makeup." He laughed at the thought saying he wasn't afraid of them. I somehow managed to wiggle away, but told him if we were quick he could join me in the shower. I ended up leaving the room about 15 minutes after I was supposed to meet up. We both got caught up on this new point in our lives distractions.

I actually ran into Ryback literally in the hallway as I was rushing. His career had really taken off since we dragged him for help and he was grateful. He also liked having someone to spot him. Damn that man was all muscle and it was like hitting a brick wall.

"Sorry, Ryan." I went to continue.

"Where are you so late for?" he asked following me to elevator.

"I was supposed to meet the girls for food about twenty minutes ago. They are going to kill me."

"That's unlike you. Normally you are the first one there," he paused thinking looking me over as we got into the elevator and just started laughing. "You and your best friend finally gave into the tension didn't you?" My eyes felt like they were jumping out of my head. He had known about my feelings thanks to a drunken night at the bar after Ricardo had randomly left.

"Holy Fuck!" I screamed in the elevator, "How did you know? You haven't known me that long. Like yea we are work out buddies…but how. Shit if you know, I'm a sitting duck going into that room." He just laughed.

"With the whole silent intense character I notice things differently. And you seem happier and less stressed. Plus the mark on your neck is kind of a give away as well. " I looked at the reflection in the elevator doors. Without even thinking I pulled my pony tail holder out and fluffed out my hair.

"Any better?"

"You still got the just got laid glow, but the mark is hidden a little," he just laughed. The door dinged and opened. "Good luck!" He turned the opposite way and I headed to the restaurant. I leaned forward a little bit to try and cover my neck best I could.

I walked into the little hotel restaurant and of course everyone else was there. The day everyone had to actually be on time. Such my luck.

"You look weird with your hair down," Lang said before taking a sip of her drink, "But I like it." I made up some excuse that I was trying to let my hair air dry. I avoided June's eyes for a second. With our psychic tag team bond, I knew she would be the first to know. We ordered and chatted the way we always did. No one saying anything to show they might of known and I was still avoiding as much eye contact guiltily.

I went to take a drink of my drink when June spoke up.

"Oh, Lynne, just so you know…the walls are kind of thin in this hotel." My head snapped up after I finished choking on my drink. "Took you long enough." Everyone at the table laughed.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," my face went red.

"Do you think any of us care?" Daryl laughed, "It's about time you had fun and gave in."

"How do you know who was in there with me?"

"You mean other than the "OH RICKY" ?" June laughed, "Matt and I were coming back when he was. He said he had gone to talk to Alberto, and looked really nervous. So we may have listened in a little bit to make sure you guys were ok. And then we got a surprise."

"I don't think I've ever seen your face so red," Lang laughed, "So are you guys official?"

"I think so," I squeaked.

"Good. Can we threaten him like you did our guys?" Daryl asked.

"He's already been warned it's going to happen."

"Ooo I can't wait to corner him later. I swear Matt almost passed out after you did that to him. But you deserve to be happy, and we all think Ricardo is the right guy for you to make that happen. These pancakes are fricking awesome."

And that was it. The conversation was over and everyone accepted it. I looked down at my phone to see a text to Ricardo saying he missed me already and hoped I was surviving. Also he couldn't wait until I got back to he could kiss me whenever he wanted. I smiled texting him back that I would fill him in later. I loved these girls. Even before Exodus they were always looking out for me. Even if I was a bit embarrassed on how they knew, they would've found out anyway. I guess they all knew eventually when I stopped being stubborn it would happen, and they approved. The last few months had been insane, but had all lead to something good. I knew in my heart this new change was only going to lead to something better. I couldn't be afraid, they all taught me that. I could only imagine what Stephanie would say when she found out. She always liked me because of my talent in the ring, and saw who I was in my heart when helping with her kids. I have a feeling other than his talent, playing match maker was the reason he ended in the group. And I was happy he did. I was happier than I had ever been in my whole life. I love my job, my friends, my man (not that I'd tell him that yet), and my life. Nothing could ruin that, and I knew now that I had someone to share it with, it would only get better.