a/n: Holy...wow. The response to the first chapter BLEW MY MIND! I love you all so much, it's ridiculous.

There aren't many words to describe how I feel besides thankful. I wouldn't have dared write a sequel - considering how unpopular mine tend to be - if it weren't for the overwhelming love Drift received. To know that you all are just as excited for this edition of Paige and Seth's story as you were for the initial installment...it's just as overwhelming. Thank you!

Let me know how you feel about this chapter, please! It would mean a lot!

With love. :)

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Two - hours - to be exact, passed before either Paige or Seth calmed down enough to talk through their confusion.

Seth, who was reasonably shocked out of his mind, was the first to speak. His words weren't as confident as he repeated in his mind, but he tried.

"So... What's the plan?"

What's the plan? Paige scoffed and wiped away the dozens of tears that covered her cheeks. "Really? That's all you have to say? We've practically sat here in silence for, like, ever. The least you could do is offer a fucking solution."

"Why are you so mad at me?" Seth stood up from the bed, where he sat next to Paige. "It isn't like I planned for this to happen."

"You could've fooled me!"

With a twist of his eyebrows, Seth sent her another confused expression. "You think I planned this?"

Paige shook her head. "I don't know! It's just suspicious!"

"My career is finally getting back on track after my injury," Seth explained. "Why would I plan something that could put that at risk?"

She took a steadying breath, although steady her it did not. "You're the one who always cracks jokes about marriage and living together forever. I always thought it was strange, considering you're also the one who has never been ready to tell people about us."

"Do you remember how long it took us to get together all those months ago?

"It's been a year."

"Okay, a year. Do you remember?" Paige nodded in response, so Seth continued. "The last thing I wanted to do was drag Dean, or Emma, or anybody else through our complicated lives. It's easier to work things out in private before you go and announce your plans to the world."

Paige covered her face with her hands and curled up into a ball at the end of the bed. She couldn't believe what was happening. She couldn't be pregnant. Physically, yes she could. Emotionally? Hell no. She wasn't ready for a child. She had a hard enough time keeping herself alive sometimes, so the thought of having to raise a human being in this world continuously forced the Brit to break down into sobs.

Seth had to look away from her as she cried. He couldn't stand to see her so emotional. It took a lot of effort for him to comfort her as she sobbed on his shoulder when she entered the room, but that was the best he could do. She was normally so in tune with her emotions, but this was obviously a different situation.

Parents? They couldn't be.

"We're going to figure something out," he promised.

She didn't know if it was an empty promise or if he would keep his vow. Paige could only nod and hold her hand just below her nose, preventing tears from spilling into her mouth.

Seth walked back and took his seat next to her on the bed. "This isn't going to change anything."

"It changes everything," she assured him.

He bit back his tongue. Of course, this changed everything - he wasn't an idiot. "We'll figure it out," he repeated, this time wrapping a soft hand around her head and pulling her in so he could place a gently kiss on her temple.

Everything was the same backstage.

Chairs were either folded up or settled down next to tables. Crew members scurried about their usual business while shuffling papers. Various wrestlers warmed up throughout the halls, their headphones methodically silencing their surroundings.

Everything was the same. Except, of course, that it wasn't.

There was one more person - growing - inside the building, hidden beneath the cloth of Paige's maroon tank-top. She shook her head, scolding herself for choosing such a tight-fitting top when she knew that there would have to be someone who noticed her unusually bloated abdomen. It wasn't sticking out in plain sight, but the right eye could sense the oddity.

Paige tucked a wavy tress behind her ear and continued walking down the hall until she recognized a friendly face. She wasn't about to reveal her condition to anyone besides Seth, but she needed to see someone who didn't remind her of her situation.

Therefore, she chose Emma.

"Are you busy?"

Emma looked up from her phone. "I always am, but never for you." She hopped off the large speaker she had settled on and adjusted her outfit so it fit more comfortably. "What's up?"

Despite being unwilling to tell her secret, Paige still checked around for eavesdroppers before speaking. "Nothing, really. I just wanted to see how everything was going."

"Everything is the same." Except, it's not. "I'm still me. Bored, exhausted, single, Emma."

Single. How could Paige forget the infamous breakup between Emma and Dean? It isn't every day that your best friend storms into your shared hotel room and flushes her expensive engagement ring down the toilet before explaining what was going on. There were many reasons for their separation, all of which were complicated and annoying to hear over cheap beers and cardio training. In the end, it felt inevitable for them to move forward.

Even if they were disgustingly adorable together.

"Sounds exciting," Paige lied.

"What about you? You didn't just take me away from my phone for nothing."

Paige shrugged. "Can't a girl have a casual conversation with her best friend without being interrogated?"

"Not if that girl is you and that best friend is me." Emma crossed her arms and tilted her head, sending the Brit her side-eye. "What's going on?"

She couldn't even think about saying the words, so she knew she wasn't going to. Rather, she tip-toed backwards and shrugged again. "Same-old, same-old."

Emma wasn't buying it, but she chose not to press it. "Do you know when you're going to get back in the ring?"

Nine months - the earliest. "Nope," she stated simply.

The Australian diva opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when her phone began to buzz. She checked who it was that needed her before glancing back up in Paige's direction. "We'll finish this later," she warned and then stepped off to the side to answer her phone.

Slowly, Paige walked away with her head down. While she had hoped a small conversation with her good friend would solve her problems - or at least calm her nerves - she was disappointed to find herself full of panic. There wasn't anything that could fix this.

She had already considered an abortion, but it felt wrong. She thought about it right after her test glowed with a positive result and before she decided to tell Seth. To put it simply, she didn't want to hurt Seth. She had no clue whether or not he was interested in fathering children, but she did know that if she took away his chance than it would only illuminate injustice.

Paige has had enough injustice in her life to know that she didn't want to spread any.

Seth wasn't that into punching bags, but for some reason he couldn't shake the anger in his fists long enough to avoid shoving them into the surface of a heavy bag.

It didn't solve anything, but it satisfied him enough that he could think straight for more than thirty seconds.

He didn't really know why he was angry, though. There wasn't much he could do. For all it was worth, he had done his part. Although it's detestable, he could just walk away; though he knew he wouldn't. The rest of her pregnancy was up to Paige. She could terminate it, or she could keep it. She could raise the baby - with or without Seth - or she could give him or her away. She could decide what she ate, what she wore, what she did... It was all up to her.

All Seth could do was wait.

While a part of him relished in the idea of kicking back and relaxing for nine months, the rest of him was angry. Why? He still didn't know. He just was.

Punch after punch, nothing changed. That anger remained flowing steadily throughout his body, coursing through his veins and seeping through his skin in the form of sweat beads. While he hoped that each punch would result in bliss, none did. Eventually he had to give up. If he pushed any further he could injure himself and put himself in a much harder situation.

He plopped himself down on a bench and peeled the boxing gloves from his hands. He then took an average-sized white towel and wiped his forehead clean of sweat.

As he continued to watch other men and women parade around the gym, doing various exercises, he found himself in a fit of jealousy. Regardless of what those random individuals were going through at that point in their lives, it couldn't possibly compare to what he was dealing with. At least, not on the confusion scale.

Seth was unimaginably confused. One second, he and Paige were merely sleeping behind everybody's backs. The next, they were a public couple. A few seconds after, they broke up. Then, they returned to square one and kept it hidden from every living soul they could fathom. Dean, Emma, their parents... Everybody.

Everybody was out of the loop - except for them.

Sure, it was sexier but it held a higher risk. They had to explain everything now, to an extent.

He knew he cared about Paige. He couldn't deny how his heart skipped a million beats whenever they shared the same air. He couldn't pretend not to notice how warm his cheeks felt when he watched her get dressed after a night's rendezvous. He couldn't escape the feeling of falling in love with her whenever their eyes met. He kept it a secret, along with their relationship, but he never lied to himself about it.

Would he have to explain all of that too?