Firstly I have to say a big THANK YOU to those of you that have followed this story so far: Boremi18 , Dulce07, Kimmi1287, LoverGirl007, RavenclawKhaleesi , The Lion of Darkness, UselessWithAPen, bigtimefan08, caz21, edwardlovinmom , elohelkae, prettybaby69, tpayne19

I hope you're still enjoying! I'm not sure if I'll be able to make another update over the weekend because of the holiday but there will definitely be another update at the start of the week.

And please, if you want to see a Superstar or Diva make an appearance, let me know!

Seth woke the next morning to the sound of his alarm on his phone and a slight stiffness in his knee. He reached over to turn the alarm off and sighed; lying in bed with his eyes closed for a few more minutes. Getting back in to the swing of road life was going to be a little tougher than he expected.

He finally sat up and reached to pull the hair tie out of his hair while simultaneously reaching for his phone to scroll through any alerts or emails he already had. The only important one was a confirmation for his flight that night to Orlando. He tossed the phone on the bed next to him and inhaled sharply, preparing himself to start his day.

Shower. Pack up. Head to Norfolk. Crossfit. Smackdown. Fly to Orlando.

Before he made it to the bathroom to shower he turned around and walked back to the bed to get his phone. He wanted to check on Carter.

When they had wrapped up their meal the night before Carter headed outside and Seth stopped by the table of fellow superstars to say hello. He felt like he should and Carter told him that Paige and Beck would understand why she didn't. Dolph had been cordial to him and given him a cold handshake but otherwise hadn't said anything. The walk back to the hotel was mostly silent but she had given him a warm and genuine smile when she said goodnight as they got off the elevator.

He just wanted to be sure that nothing had gone south now that it was morning and that she didn't get lost in worrying and over thinking.

Carter and Becky were a little over an hour in to their four hour drive to the next stop in Norfolk, VA. Becky was taking her turn at driving and Carter was happily riding shotgun, feet propped up on the dash of their rented Jeep. Carter's phone was plugged in to the media adapter in the car and she was DJing for the drive. A text message alert interrupted the current song they were listening to.

Good morning.

A text from Seth was displayed on her home screen.

Becky glanced over at Carter for a moment before returning her eyes to the road. Carter had dropped her feet from the dash and had a small smile playing on her lips. She didn't need to ask who it was but she was going to anyways.

"Who's that?"

Good morning to you. Carter responded and gave Becky a side eye look.

"Oh, I already knew it," Becky grinned. "He's sending good morning texts now?"

"How do you know it says 'good morning'?"

"Because the only reason someone gets a text at 7am is when their certain someone is telling them good morning. Or it's Carano."

"We are friends, Becks."

"I don't have any guy friends that tell me good morning."

Carter rolled her eyes and looked at her phone as it vibrated in her hand.

I just wanted to check on you after last night.

So far, so good. Becky and I left early so it's been avoided. Hoping he'll just ignore it.

She dug in the bag next to her feet in the floorboard to retrieve a Luna bar while she waited for his response.

You already left? Do you ever fucking sleep?

Carter laughed. Vampire. And I have a lot to do today.

Tell Becky hello. Be careful.

Thank you for checking on me. See you tonight.

She added in a smiley face emoji with the tongue sticking out and returned her phone to the cup holder where it originally was.

Becky glanced at Carter again.

"Stop it," Carter stuck her tongue out at her friend. "I see that look and I am telling you- it's nothing. He also says hi."

"C, you have literally spent more time with him in the last 36 hours than I've ever seen before."

"Well….even if there was something, which there isn't. I'm telling you. I don't date wrestlers anymore so it wouldn't matter."

"That's just stupid."

"Which part of it?"

"Both, but mainly that you don't date wrestlers anymore. I know that Dolph was a primo asshole to ye, but….he's just one. Ferg is a good guy, he's a wrestler."

Carter shrugged and gave her friend an endearing look. "You got lucky."

"What about the twins and John and Bryan? Is that luck? Nattie and TJ? Stephanie and Hunter?"

"I get it, I get it," Carter held up her hands in surrender. "I know it's an unfair judgment. I'm just jaded. I know it wasn't the wrestling that caused everything, he's just a bad seed."

Carter looked out the window at the passing highway and cars and pursed her lips together. She sighed. She knew what she said to Becky was absolute truth and her swearing off of any guy that was in the profession was stupid, but it was something that made her head happy for the time being. In all honesty, she knew that her friendship with Seth had grown and evolved way more than was expected when he was sidelined with his knee injury, and she was trying the best she could to just keep it at friendship. That was what she needed.

"You know, he is really good looking…especially when he wears his glasses…" Becky teased.

Carter's eyes could have rolled out of her with the emphasis she put behind rolling them before cutting a playful glare at the orange haired Irish girl. "Would you stop it?" she tried to scold her without cracking a smile or laugh but wasn't very successful.

"Ok, ok, I'm done for now."

They were silent for a moment and then Carter started asking Becky her plans for their upcoming off days, trying to deflect the topic and distract her friend.

Later that evening, Carter found herself walking the hallways of the arena. Her head was down, eyes on her phone and one ear bud in as she scrolled through pictures on her phone of her and Becky from earlier at the café they had visited for lunch.

"Heads up!" she heard and looked over her shoulder at two roadies coming down the hall, rolling a large box of equipment. She stopped and stepped to the side to let them pass her. She took the opportunity to lean against the wall and post the picture she chose, tagging Becky and the restaurant and adding a few food emojis and hearts.

"Hey girl!"

Carter looked up and saw Big-E standing a few feet away from her, outside a doorway to a locker room that was propped open.

"Hi, E," she smiled.

"Get over here," he motioned for her. "Let me look at you since you're walking down this hall looking like a white Beyonce."

Carter blushed and rolled her eyes and walked over to E. She was dressed in a high waist, royal blue pencil skirt and a black tank top that was tight, hugged her curves, and tucked under her skirt. Her black hair was in a high ponytail and skinny black stilettos with fringe capped off her outfit.

Big E spun her around and whistled, grinning.

"Stop," she laughed. "I have a photo shoot…"

Big E pulled her in to the doorway while calling for Kofi and Xavier. "Check out our little CJK walking around here like she's about to step in to a music video. She's about to get this whole locker room in Formation."

Carter was on the verge of being full on embarrassed now. She took a quick glance of the room, seeing Xavier and Kofi, but also spotting Seth. Her cheeks flushed and she covered her face with her hand, trying to hide behind Big E's shoulder.

Seth had turned away from the video game he and Xavier were playing to check out whatever commotion Big E was causing. He saw Carter before Big E even said anything and his heart jumped for a second. She was a knock out when she actually allowed the stylists to fully glam her up, not that she wasn't naturally beautiful, but she could stop a person in their tracks. She was visibly uncomfortable; awkwardly smiling and he couldn't help but smile a little at knowing she was probably blushing.

"You got a big date or something?" Kofi asked.

"No! I have to do a photo shoot. Ya'll stop…you know I hate this stuff."

"Well you look beautiful," Xavier interjected. Kofi and Big E nodded.

"I ditto that," Seth added.

"Thank you…" she responded meekly, letting Big E give her a one arm hug. "What are ya'll in here doing anyways?"

"Oh shit! We're still recording!" Xavier exclaimed, getting laughs from the group. "Eh, we can edit it. We're filming Up Up Down Down. Turtles in Time bay-by."

"Classic," Carter smiled.

"Speaking of…when are you going to do an episode with me?"

"I don't do video games. I'm seriously really bad at them. The newer they are the worse I get. I'm that person that just presses buttons and hopes for the best."

"Nobody is that bad at video games, C," Seth said.

"I am."

"Even old school games?"

"I can do Kirby, Duck Hunt and Sonic the Hedgehog and that's about the end of my ability…and candy crush."

"I have original sonic. We can do that," Xavier said.

"Let me know when and I'll do an episode with you then."

"What's your photo shoot for?" Big E asked.

"The website. Just getting ready for some new things," she looked at Seth. "And I'm probably going to be late now, but it was good to see you boys. You do know how to make a girl feel fabulous." Carter flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and laughed.

Big E gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and the other guys wished her luck and gave her hugs. Seth lingered for an extra moment, hoping it wasn't noticeable to the three New Day members, to quietly tell her she really did look beautiful. Her heart fluttered as she stepped back with a warm smile and waved to them, turning on her heel to leave the room as they went back to their game.

I hope he does edit that… she thought to herself as she left the room, smiling.

The smile didn't last long. She rounded a corner and Dolph was walking toward her. She groaned internally and prepared herself for him to say something. She wasn't going to speak first. Her plan was to keep walking.

"C!" he said, a hint of surprise in his voice.

She stopped and looked at him.

"I was hoping I would run in to you soon…"

"Why?" she asked, coldly.

Dolph shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know…because we haven't talked in weeks and I thought it would be nice to catch up. Or at least say hello."

"Well, hello." She started to walk away and he grabbed her arm. Not aggressively but enough to make her stop and look at him. She blankly looked at him and waited for him to speak.

"I was going to come say hello last night but I didn't want to interrupt anything. I'm sorry I didn't speak."

"It's really not a problem," she flatly responded.

"I didn't want you to feel like I was ignoring you."

Carter still stood with her arms folded, quiet, and blinked. "Ok…"

"I, uh, didn't know you and Rollins were…." He trailed off.

Carter could see the question in his eyes and knew he wanted to finish the statement but he wouldn't.

She straightened her stance and swallowed hard before replying. "Not that it would matter because who I spend time with has zero to do with you anymore but we aren't. We had a meal together. Is that all you wanted to 'catch up' about?"

He wet his lips and sighed, giving her a soft look. "Can we not be friends?"

"No," an annoyed laugh escaped her lips. "I'm late for a photo shoot. I already got held up. Is there anything else you want to question me about?"

"No," he answered.

At that part Carter looked down and realized his hand was still around her wrist. She took a step back and gave him another hard look. "Good bye."

Her anger was flaring and it was mixed with annoyance and hurt. She knew she had to go to this photo shoot and put on a smile and smolder and knock it out of the park, but at the same time she wanted to find Becky and rage at her about her run-in. This was what she had been talking about that morning in the car. This was just too much hassle.