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DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own WWE, NXT or any of the Superstars and Divas from either roster that may appear in this story. Names and locations are used for story purposes only.

*Roman's POV*
It's the ending of the our final game for the football season and we're ending it with a 10 game winning streak. Some are calling it a great comeback, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to help the team get a championship game to end the season. In the locker room, the guys had just finished getting ready to leave when I called them together for one more talk before leaving.

"I wanted to say that I'm proud of every single one of you." I tell them. "I know that we won't be walking away with a trophy, but we're walking away as champions, nonetheless. We're ending the season with a 10 game winning streak which a lot of people thought we weren't going to be able to do this year because of how things were going for us. But here we are, showing that we made a comeback. Though it wasn't enough for a championship, we showed that we were indeed capable of winning. Don't put yourselves down, and don't get discouraged because of it. For those of you who are graduating this year, you want to play college ball? Then when you get there, show all of them why you deserve to be there. Show them why you deserve to be on that field in every game. Show them that they made a great decision at wanting you to play for them."

"How can we get back on the team for next season?" Asked one of the freshmen.

"As the months go on, more information will be given as to what needs to be done for the new season." I reply. "Remember though, keep your grades up regardless. I understand you want to focus on football, especially if it's something that you want to do as a career. But at the end of the day, your education is important too. You can't just put that aside to focus on sports only. I'm not trying to downplay athletes but remember that a sports career isn't always a promises long term career. Injuries can happen that can stop you from playing. So get an education."

We stayed talking for a few more minutes before we finally cleared the locker room and left. Having talks before and after the game has become a thing that we now do and the team likes it as well as myself. As I make my way outside, I see that Dean is waiting for me in his car and so I quickly walk over to him and got in the car after he congratulated me on the win.

"So how does it feel ending the season on a winning streak?" He asks as we make our way to a local restaurant.

"It feels damn good." I tell him with the biggest smile on my face. "I didn't think that I'd do this good in my first year here, but I managed to do it."

Dean smiled. "I'm not surprised. Coaching seems to come naturally for you."

We got to the restaurant and saw that there was a good amount of people there already, since a lot of them were coming from the game since the school was nearby. Getting in line, I heard a familiar voice nearby. Looking around, he saw a woman with long hair and a blue shirt with jeans and sneakers. A beige purse was hanging from her shoulder and she was standing in front of three girls who were clearly younger than she was. When she turned around, I immediately saw the green eyes that I liked to see.

"Hello." Said someone before I saw a hand waving in front of me. Blinking a few times, I realized it was only Dean and cleared my throat.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked.

He looked at me. "I said, what do you want to eat?"

I looked at the menu and told him what I wanted before giving him the money to pay for what I ordered. I looked back and saw Cassandra holding the tray filled with food for her and the three girls she was with.

"Go say 'hi' to her." Dean said.

"Are those her kids?" I asked.

Dean looked and smiled. "No, she doesn't have any kids. You see her almost everyday at work, so I don't know why you can't talk to her now."

I look at him and walk up to her when she finds a table. "Cassandra?"

"Hey." She says with a smile when she looks up at me with eyes that look more green today than usual. "I heard about your win tonight. Congratulations!"

"Thank you." I said as we surprisingly shared a hug. I take in her scent and smell jasmine as my arms rest around her waist.

Our eyes meet when I look down at her and I didn't realize that I had kept my arms around her. It didn't matter at the moment as I looked into her eyes. We both cleared our throat when we pulled away and I watched as she sat back down and hooked her hair behind her ears. "These are my little sisters, by the way. Chasey, Gracie and Kaia. This is my friend, Roman."

"Hi." The two oldest girls said. I greeted them and couldn't help but smile at the youngest one as she shied away and gave a sweet little smile of her own before finally waving at me.

"She can be shy sometimes, so it's okay." Cassandra says. "Are you here by yourself?"

"No, I'm with Dean. He picked me up after the game. I'm just waiting for him to come with the food." I tell her. "Are you here with just your sisters?"

"Yes, it's just the four of us tonight." Cassandra says. "But it's some much needed sister time, right girls?"

They giggle and agree before beginning to eat their food as she gives them some napkins. Dean finally came with our tray. He and Cassandra greeted each other before he walked to a nearby table. I was about to follow him when my feet just unexpectedly turned me around to walk back to her.

"What's your favorite color?" I ask her.

"I really like blue. Maybe some pink and red." She says with a smile. "What's yours?"

"I like blue." I tell her. I walk away awkwardly to where Dean was sitting.

Dean rests his chin on top of his hands. "The hell was that?"

"I just wanted to know her favorite color." I said.

"I'm not talking about that. You just looked so awkward coming back." He says with a soft chuckle. "How long has it been since you've you talked to a girl before you met her?"

I let out a chuckle of my own. "I don't know. I just get nervous around her."

"I think you're starting to like her." He says.

I shake my head. "No I'm not. We're becoming really good friends and I like talking to her. It's easy to talk to her and have a conversation with her. It feels normal and easy. I don't have to force anything with her and I like that. You're the only other person that it's like that with for me. We've been spending more time together for the last two weeks, but only during lunch and break. Not everyday, but yeah."

"You said so yourself that you don't want people feeling bad for you because of what you've been through." He says. "Because you don't want them feeling bad for you."

"Yeah." I say softly before looking over at her as she eats and interacts with her little sisters.

We continue to eat for a few more minutes before either one of us speaks up. "I've been looking for apartments."

"Yeah? Have you found any that you're interested in?" Dean asks.

"I found a few that I really like and I'm close to getting one that I can really afford." I tell him. "It's just a one bedroom, but that's okay for now."

"That's good. Gonna miss me?" He says with a frown, but with a hint of a smile that I know he was trying to hide.

I chuckle and shake my head. "Are you going to miss me?"

"I asked first." Dean says.

"And I'm asking you the same thing." I reply.

We then go back and forth for a literally a minute about the whole thing until we just end up laughing about it. That's something I love about our friendship. We have our arguments, of course. But at the end of the day, we're still like brothers.

*Cassandra's POV*

It's a Thursday morning and I make my way through the halls of Houston High to my classroom after clocking in. Getting into my classroom, I put my things down and start writing just the date and directions for a test that I would be giving to all of my classes today. I let out a sigh when I finish and take a seat after taking out my attendance book and getting up again to walk around as I drank some of my juice and ate my muffin.

"Good morning." Says a deep voice from behind. Looking back, I see a 6'3 Samoan with his hair pulled back into a neat bun as he wore a black shirt with grey sweat pants and sneakers. "Enjoying your breakfast?"

"Good morning and um...yeah I am." I say as I look down at my muffin and then at my juice that's nearby. "Sorry, I didn't have time to eat before I left my apartment so I just picked something up on the way hoping that I would have some time to enjoy it before my first class."

He gives me that smile of his that I've been growing to like. "That's okay. I did that this morning, but I ate in my car before I came in."

"You're pretty attached to that car." I tell him as he walks up to him and looks out the window.

"Yeah, well...I don't know." He says with a small smile as he shrugs and looks down.

I put the rest of my muffin away before taking a sip of my juice. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I just really like my car." He says.

I look over at him and see that he's now looking at me with his eyes that one could just melt in. "That's okay. I really like my car too."

We both laughed a bit before growing silent. "What made you want to be a teacher?" He asked.

"I always liked to teach. But the way I was growing up, one would never think that I would be a teacher." I tell him as I sit down by my desk.

"Why's that?" He asked as he sat across from me.

I shrug. "I was very shy growing up. At times, I was painfully shy. Sometimes I would talk to someone and it would feel as if I'm talking to a room filled with people, especially if it was someone that I liked. My first reaction was always wanting to run and hide because of how nervous I would get from being so shy. As my sisters came along, I would always teach them how to read and tie their shoes and tell time and what not and it came naturally, teaching. It wasn't until one summer where I started doing Summer Youth because I wanted to try to save up some money on my own because I didn't like asking my parents for money. When it was time for me to choose what I wanted, all they had was daycamps and stuff like that. I would teach them what I would teach my sisters and it worked."

"Did that help you get over your shyness?" Roman asked.

"A little bit. What also helped a bit was that my dad would take me on the road with him during the summer as well." I told him. "When Summer Youth finished up for the summer, he would take me with him for a while and not only did that help us spend time together, but because he worked with so many people, slowly that helped, too. I would always be backstage, but I would constantly just cling on to him, even as I got older. Then again, I was and still am a daddy's little girl. But, I got over it. Though sometimes I can still be a bit shy."

Roman smiles at me. "I haven't seen a hint of shyness in you since we met. But I can the side of you that's nice and caring. The side of you that likes to help and teach."

"We have a lot more to learn about each other, then." I tell him.

"I actually agree with that." He says. "Maybe we can go to lunch together, today if nothing pops up throughout the day to keep us from that. How about lunch, everyday?"

I laugh softly. "Everyday, huh?"

"Yes. If you want to, I mean." Roman replies.

The bell rings, before I can say anything, indicating time for first period. I let out a soft sigh and look out into the hallway to see students walking around and talking as they make their way to their classes.

"We'll talk later." Roman said as he got up from his seat. "Hopefully, I can see you for lunch."

I gave him a smile as I rest my chin on my hand. "Go, I'll see you later."

The next few hours came and went and I found myself anxiously waiting for my lunch break to come around. There was that part of me that wanted to see Roman again and talk to him. Though I did have other co-workers as friends that I would usually talk to and eat lunch with, and still sometimes did, there was something about him that made me want more.

When lunch time finally did come around, I got my things together and left my classroom after locking the door behind me and made my way down to Roman's office. His door was open and when I looked in, he was looking out the window. Something that I've noticed he likes to do quite often, even when he's in my classroom before the students come in.

"Are you busy?" I ask, causing him to turn around.

"No, I was just enjoying the view." He says as his eyes linger at me as he softly smiles.

I slowly walk in with my purse over my shoulder and stop by his desk. "So does that lunch thing still stand?"

"Yes. Do you want it to?" He asks.

"Yeah. I'd like to go." I tell him before looking down.

When I look back up, his blue/grey eyes are already on me as our gazes meet and lock. After a few seconds, we took our eyes away from each other and cleared our throats.

"We should get going." Said Roman. "We don't want to be late coming back."

"Yeah, I agree." I said. "Though I'm sure my students would like not having a test today. Or any day of the week for that matter."

He chuckled. "What kid ever liked taking tests?"

"I never did." I admitted as we walked out of his office and made our way down the hallway.

"I didn't either. But I kind of liked school." He says. "Sometimes."

Smiling, I looked over at him. "Tell me something about yourself that you haven't told me."

"I'm half Samoan and half Italian." Roman says as we walk out of the building and into the parking lot to make our way to his car. "My dad's Samoan and my mom's Italian."

"That's a cool combination." I said. "I'm Irish and Native American."

"Was you hair always that long?" Roman asks.

I nod. "Yup. There was this one time though where I cut it up to my shoulders because I wanted to try something a bit new with my hair, but I just let it grow out again because I missed having long hair."

"I've grown used to having long hair, so I get it." He says as he chuckles. "Would you ever cut it again?" He asks as he pulls out of the parking.

"I'll trim it, but I don't know if I'll ever cut it further than that." I reply. "Would you ever cut yours?"

Roman thinks for a moment. "Probably not. I actually like having my hair this long. It took me a while to grow it out."

"I like it on you." I admitted. "It suits you."

"Thanks." He says softly with a smile. There was a silence that fills the air in the car until we get to where we were going to eat.

Deciding that we wanted to be alone for lunch, we decided to go through the drive through and eat in the car after we got our food. With silence still in the air, I found myself with thoughts invading my mind again.

"What was it like growing up in Florida?" I asked him.

"It was pretty good. I grew up with a lot of family." He says. "I grew up with my twin cousins, Jimmy and Jey and we were like brothers. Always together. We still are like brothers."

I gave him a small smile when he looked over at me. "Any brothers or sisters?"

"I have an older brother and an older sister." Roman tells me. "You have any more brothers or sisters?"

"I have an older brother and then my three little sisters." I say. "That's about it."

He nodded as he took a sip of his drink before putting it back in the cup holder that was given with the drinks that we ordered. "What's your relationship status? Are you single, or what?"

"Single. What about you?" I ask.

"The same. I haven't been in a relationship in a while." Roman tells me. "It's hard finding that one person that could be good for you."

I finish up my food and nod in agreement. "Tell me about it. It's so hard finding a person who gets you and who won't judge you. Someone who accepts who you are and who loves you anyways."

"Exactly. I don't understand why it's so hard to find someone like that." He agrees. "My last girlfriend...I don't know. She just made me believe that there was a possible future for the two of us."

"What made it not work out?" I ask, cautiously. I've realized how hesitant he's been about going to much into his past, but I wanted him to know that he could trust me and that I could be someone that he could talk to.

"After a while, we just couldn't get along for anything." He tells me. "We would always end up arguing about something, even when we tried our best to get along. Something would always make us fight, just when you thought the day was going to go good. It got to the point where we couldn't even be in the same room together because we would just end up on bad terms. There were a lot of sleepless nights because I would end up on the couch. It was like, everything we did just annoyed the hell out of us. The time came where we just decided that it would be best if we just ended things"

Looking over at him, I take a good look at his eyes and I see something. "You want to be happy."

"Yeah and don't get me wrong, I am and I'm okay with being single and I've grown to be happy and content with being single. But sometimes I just want someone to share a life with." Roman says looking over at me.

"You'll find someone." I say, wanting to comfort him.

"Maybe." He whispers.

A few minutes later, we started to make our way back to school for the rest of the afternoon. It wasn't until the day was over that I saw him again, standing by the door. I didn't even hear him until he knocked on the door.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked as he walked in, holding his bag over his shoulder signaling that he was about to leave for the day.

"Nothing." I say as I quickly finish putting my things away. "Just have a few things on my mind."

He stands in front of me and rests his forearms on the table that I use as my desk. "Something I can help you with?'

"I don't know. Are you willing to help?" I ask with a smile.

"If you let me." He says with a wicked smile that made my heart skip a beat as my face warmed up.

Roman takes the piece of paper that was in front of him and takes out a pen to write something on it. Handing it back to me, I see that it's a phone number.

"That's my number." He says before taking the paper back and writing his name on top.

"The coach is giving me his number?" I ask with a smile before taking a piece of that paper and writing something on it and handing it to him. "There's my number."

I see him take out his phone and put in my number as I do the same when he finishes. Roman looks up at me when I'm done and quickly looks down again after our eyes meet for a few seconds.

"So, Cassandra." He starts saying as I grab my things and begin walking towards the door. "Now that I have your number, can I text you later?"

"Do you want to?" I ask with a smile wanting to form on my face as we quickly made our way to the parking lot, though we ended up taking our time once we did.

"Yes. Is it okay with you?" He asks.

I look over at him and see him shyly looking ahead of him, which made him look so adorable. Who would imagine that a 6'3 badass looking guy would be all shy about something.

"I'd like that." I tell him, seeing a smile grow on his face.

"Cool, so we'll talk later then." Roman says as we reach my car before remembering that his was only a few feet away.

I give him a smile. "We'll talk later."

Our eyes lock before I reluctantly look away and unlock the door to my car. We talk for a few more minutes before we finally went our separate ways. Once I got in my car and turned it on, I realized how my heart was racing as well as the feelings that I had going on inside. I couldn't explain what these feelings were, but I knew it was something. Going home, I cleaned up a bit and started dinner just as my phone rang. Looking at the screen, I see that it's Roman and I can instantly feel the butterflies in my stomach.

"Hey, Roman." I say when I answer.

"Hey, how are you?" He asks.

I can hear the nervousness in his voice and I can't help but smile for some reason. "I'm good, just started making some dinner. You?"

"I'm pretty good. Making some dinner, too." Roman replies before silence came from both ends. "I know I said I asked if I could text you, but I wanted to hear your voice."

"You like hearing my voice?" I ask as I bite my lip. I instantly felt as if I was asking a stupid question and for that, I was mentally groaning.

"Yes. Why am I so nervous talking to you all of a sudden?" He surprisingly asks.

I played with my hair that was in a ponytail, as I smile before quickly checking the food. "I don't know. I didn't realize I was doing anything different."

"You're being you. But that doesn't stop me from being nervous." Roman tells me softly. "I like how you are."

"Yeah?" I find myself asking, in a whisper.

"Yeah." He replies.

A/N: Are you glad that Roman ended his first season at Houston High on a winning streak even though they weren't able to get a championship? Do you like the little talks that he has with the team before and after the games? Do you think that's been part of what has helped them with their games? What about Cassandra and Roman spending more time together and getting each other's phone numbers? Why exactly do you think it is that he feels nervous with her?