A/N: Hey guys! Big thanks go to Jodie54, beautifultragedyxxx, SoCalStarOC, nikki1335, xSamiliciousx, Hugsieee, Sonib89, heardyrhodescenafan1, Animal Luvr 4 Life, alana2awesome, Liloxbubbly, xXParieceXx and xHalosandwings for reviewing the last chapter, I love you all.
Just a few things before we start. I know Wade's real name is Stuart, and Justin's is Paul, but it works better for everyone if I just stick to their ring names, that way nobody gets confused! Another thing, the time frame is totally messed up in this as Wade wasn't in RQW till around 2007, but I'm gonna make it where he was there a little earlier so he isn't way older than Sofia... so let's say 2004, when he was 24.
With all that said, here's the next one. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave feedback!
Chapter 3 – The Blame's On You
I walked in to the all too familiar gym, smiling to myself at the sight of the ring in front of me, and the twenty or so people that were already warming up around it. I slipped around a bunch of the older guys, waving and grinning as they greeted me, before I found my own small corner. It wasn't that I was anti-social or anything, but when I was preparing to be in that ring, whether for a match or a simple training session, I had to get my head in the game. I didn't want any distraction what so ever.
I'd been wrestling for around a year now, and I already knew that it was something I wanted to pursue further. I loved being able to spend time there with all of the guys. I'd gotten to know some extremely nice people while working at RQW, and I'd learned everything I knew from there... but still, it wasn't where I wanted to spend the rest of my life, with wrestling as my side job. It was something I wanted as a full time career, so my sites were set a lot higher than a wrestling company in England.
"Hey, Sofia," A familiar, gruff voice interrupted, and my smile returned as I span around to see the chairman, Len. I'd always gotten along with him well; maybe it was because he was always so enthusiastic about the matches. He seemed to love it as much as we, the performers, did.
"Hey you!" I grinned his way as I slipped my hair band from around my wrist and pulled my hair into a messy ponytail. "How is everything?"
"Good, things are good," He nodded my way, and I rolled my eyes, knowing him well enough now to know when he was lying. I let out a sigh as I unzipped my jacket, already dressed in sweats and a tank ready for the training session. It was going to be a long day, after we'd finished with this, we'd have a trail run of the show that was going to take place the next day.
"Uh-huh, sure they are," I raised an eyebrow, "What do you need me to do, now?"
"You know me too well, Soph," He chuckled, and I rolled my eyes again. He really did know me too well. He knew that I'd help him with almost anything if it meant I'd get a better shot of making it big. "Well you see, I have three new guys that arrived today, and I wanted each of them to work with someone that's been here a while. I've paired two of them up with some of the guys... but you know what the rest of them are like. I don't trust them to take care of anyone..." He turned to me with puppy dog eyes, and I sighed.
"You want me to do it, right?"
"You're the only one left with enough patience, Soph," He nodded my way with a sheepish grin, "You don't mind, do you? He's a nice enough guy, and I don't expect you to have to wrestle him or anything... because well, he's pretty big. All I want you to do is show him the ropes around here, do a warm up with him, you know the usual."
I eyed him with a sideways glance, wondering what I'd be getting myself into if I agreed. I knew there was always a catch to everything Len wanted me to do, and the worst thing of all was the fact that none of the other guys wanted the job... but I knew I couldn't say no.
"Fine, whatever." I nodded his way.
"Thank you, Soph. I owe you." He grinned as he began to walk away, "I'll send him over to you."
"You really do owe me," I playfully glared as he backed away, "Tell him to get his arse over here quick, I wanna get started."
With a quick nod, Len turned his back and walked away, leaving me to warm up a little as I waited for the guy to find me... although I spent the majority of my time looking around the room. I spotted the other two new guys instantly, a smirk appearing on my lips at how out of place and nervous they looked. I knew they were probably scared to death at it being their first day, I knew I had been.
Both of the guys were seriously tall, one with pale skin and ginger hair, the other with long, light brown hair. I wasn't sure what it was, but they both had some kind of appeal to them, and I instantly knew that if they worked well, they were gonna be stars.
"Hi, Sofia, right?"
The unfamiliar voice that spoke up beside me sent instant shivers down my spine, and a frown appeared on my face as I wondered how the hell I could be so affected by the sound of someone speaking, especially when I'd never even heard it before.
I slowly turned towards the voice, my eyes nearly bulging out the sockets as I looked up... and up, my gaze finally landing on his face. Len had been right when he'd said this new guy was big... he was easily a foot taller, if not more, than my five foot five frame... but one thing he'd forgot to mention was how bloody good looking he was going to be.
He had black, curly hair that reached the bottom of his neck, and I bit down on my lip, wondering what had gotten into me as I imagined running my hands through it. His face still held babyish features... but that didn't matter to me. Hell, being only eighteen myself, it was a plus. My eyes flickered to the tattoo on his upper arm, and a small smile appeared on my lips as I appreciated the art.
And then there were those eyes... I don't think I had ever seen anything so blue.
"Urr... hi," I finally spoke up, feeling completely stupid as I realised I'd been staring at him with my eyes bugged out. I watched as a knowing smirk appeared on his lips, and my eyes instantly narrowed. Great, he just had to be arrogant.
"I'm Wade Barrett, it's a pleasure to meet you," He held his hand out to me, and I timidly reached out to shake it, hating how I felt when his skin touched mine. "Len sent me over to you; he said something about you showing me the ropes."
I nodded his way, once again frowning, but this time for a different reason. I couldn't get over how utterly perfect his accent was, but I had absolutely no idea from where he got it.
"Yeah, he just told me about it," I nodded, trying to sound at least a little polite before I raised an eyebrow his way, folding my arms over my chest, "I'm sorry, I just... I can't place your accent at all."
"Most people can't," His smirk appeared once again, lighting up his perfect features, "I was born in Preston, but after that I moved around a lot... so I kinda have a mixture of different parts of the UK."
"Ahh, I see," I nodded his way. My accent was your typical London one, nothing special... not compared to his, at least. "Okay, so, what would you like to do first? Is there anything you'd like to know?"
Wade's smirk stayed put as his eyes searched my face, before they began to inspect every inch of me. I suddenly felt self-conscious, folding my arms over my chest once again as I raised my eyebrow, wondering if he was going to answer my question or just ogle all day.
"Tell me everything you know," He finally spoke, goose-bumps appearing on my entire body from his words... but it was silly for me to think he meant anything other than my wrestling skills.
"Alright, Barrett," I rolled my eyes at his still cocky attitude, before I nodded over to an empty bench on one of the far walls, "How long have you got?"
"As long as it takes, Soph," He winked my way, and I shook my head his way, not being able to hide my own smile as I led him towards the seat, knowing this was going to be the beginning of a rather interesting relationship...
I shot up from bed, running a hand through my messy hair as I looked around the room, my eyes wide as I struggled to catch my breath. I groaned to myself, hating that my subconscious had decided to take me back to the first time I had ever laid eyes on Wade. Didn't it understand that it was hard enough having him back in my life again without the reminders of the past?
Shaking my head, I looked to the other bed beside me, rolling my eyes slightly at my best friend who was still fast asleep. I knew what Gail was like when she had nothing to do in the morning, so it was most likely going to be hours before she awoke herself... and I just couldn't sit around there waiting for her. Not when, the moment I had the slightest bit of free time, my mind went back to Wade.
Pulling the covers from the bed, I stood up and ran a hand through my messy hair. I knew the best thing I could do right now was get active, so after a hot shower I was going to head down to the gym. Working out was about the only thing I could think of that was going to make me forget about my dream, and all of my past that went along with it.
So it turned out, the gym wasn't such a good idea.
In fact, it was probably the worst one I had ever had... because when I arrived there; the first thing I spotted was him.
I stood in the entrance way, a horror struck look placed on my face as I wrestled with my thoughts, wondering if it would just be easier for me to turn back around and head to my hotel room... but people had spotted me by now. They were going to know something was wrong if I disappeared and hid in my room.
And the last thing I needed was for people to start getting suspicious. I couldn't and wouldn't allow them to know about what had happened.
Pulling myself together, I blanked the opposite side of the room completely as I walked over to the treadmills, keeping my eyes on nothing but the machines as I slipped in my headphones and began my workout.
I did well at first, concentrating on the treadmill as I began to speed it up to a decent jog... but once I couldn't do anything but run, my mind quickly began to wander. I couldn't help myself as my eyes peered across the room, finding Wade almost instantly. I watched as he lifted two huge weights, dressed in a pair of shorts and a blue wife beater. I gulped, noticing the way his muscles moved and how his skin shone...
And then, just as he had last time, he somehow seemed to know that I was watching him. His eyes flickered up to meet with my own, and we stared at each other for what seemed like forever. I could feel my eyes narrowing, annoyed at both him and myself for not being able to pull my gaze away from his.
But once someone walked directly in front of my treadmill, blocking my view of Wade completely, my eyes grew wide and my head shot up to see Randy stood only inches away, his arms folded over his chest as he looked at me with his eyebrows raised. I quickly slowed down to a walk and pulled out my headphones, my stomach doing flip-flops at the thought of him seeing how I'd been staring at the man across the room.
"Hey," I spoke up with a slight smile, my forehead frowned as I tried to mask my uneasiness "Everything okay?"
He nodded my way once, and I instantly knew something was wrong. Just the thought of him knowing about Wade, about our past, made my skin crawl... and it was all because I was stupid enough to stand there admiring how he looked, even after everything he'd done.
"Can we talk here?" He asked quietly, looking around the room.
"I, umm, sure," I nodded, hating that we had to be so secretive about everything... but then again, if he did as he said and told Jess about us, maybe we wouldn't have to be anymore. "What's wrong, Randy?"
"You didn't come by last night."
It took me a moment to realise what he was talking about, but once he did, my eyes grew wide. I cringed, wondering how I'd forgotten he'd asked me back to his room. I knew I'd been torn about going... but if it hadn't been for Wade turning up, I knew I would have gone. I always did. How was I supposed to explain that to him?
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I... I completely forgot," I shook my head, wishing more than anything that I could reach out and hug him.
"Right, you forgot." Randy's tone was far too even as he looked my way, and I shook my head his way frantically. "You didn't forget, Sofia. You didn't turn up because you're still pissed about what happened yesterday, about the Jess thing."
I stared at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about. He honestly thought that was why I didn't turn up? Didn't he know by now that even though I did absolutely hate the fact that he was married, it was never going to keep me away from him?
"You think this is about Jess?" I let out a sigh, running a hand through my hair. If only my relationship with Randy and the complications that came with it were the only problems I had.
"No, I know it is," He sighed, moving forward and resting his arms on the front of the treadmill, his voice so much lower as he spoke his next words. My eyes flashed around nervously, wondering if anyone was watching. "I promise you that I'm going to make this all right, that I'll tell her, but I need time, Soph. You can't just expect me to blurt it out."
"Randy, I... I..." I shook my head as I stepped off of the treadmill, my eyes finding his, "I can't deal with this right now, okay?"
I sighed to myself, knowing I was chickening out from talking about Jess, and not to mention Wade... but there was no way I could ever tell him about the latter. The first, well, I'd deal with it another time.
"Soph..." He went to reach out for me, but I instantly backed away. There was no way I was allowing him to show any PDA. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if others found out about us now.
"No," I shook my head, moving away from him even more, "Just drop it. I'll talk to you later."
I wasted no more time in staying with him; I knew if I did then he'd be able to convince me to talk. I quickly slipped by him, my eyes automatically searching the room to see if anyone had noticed... and my stomach instantly dropped as I saw that Wade was still looking my way. He looked utterly confused by the fact that Randy and I had been together... but for all he knew, we were just good friends.
Besides, what did it have to do with him? My life no longer concerned Wade Barrett, and the only person he had to blame for that was himself.
A/N: There was a little bit of Sheamus and Drew in here as they've worked with Wade in the past, but just so you know, they're not gonna be part of the main story. I'd like to get them in here somehow, but with everything already planned out I don't think it'll work. Plus, they'd know too much about what happened between Wade and Sofia! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one; please don't forget to hit the button under this! ;D