The next morning came quickly and with it was the rise of Payne and Payton. Rachel had accompanied the two to the gym so that she could watch the little one as his mother trained for Hell- in- a- Cell. Rachel wondered what Payne was going to do that night anyway, as far as either of them knew no one was willing to challenge Payne but someone had to want that title. Rachel seemed in a state of trance that whole morning as she was sitting with Payton. Payne would catch sight of her out of the corner of her eye every now and again . Payne had her own distraction to worry about of course but she'd do anything to help her friend. They were sisters. She remembered the talk her and Dean had while Payne was waiting to for Rachel to get dressed.

"I need you to talk to her for me." Dean said.

"What about, you didn't do anything to her did you?" Payne said getting a little protective.

Dean resisted the urge to comment that he didn't do anything to her that she didn't like. He was serious this morning and that caught Payne off guard a little, it was the first time out of the ring that she truly saw a face like that on Dean. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and her face showed true concern.

"Dean what is it?"

"I asked a favor of HHH, Stephanie and Vince to consider giving her a job at the WWE. She doesn't know this but I saw her at NXT when I was there. When she left I heard rumors going around that she quit just as they went to offer her a chance to be a part of the WWE. She had some family issues that made it impossible for her to travel around with us. When they offered her the job, she freaked. She refused but I could sense that she wanted to take the job, there's just something's holding her back."

Payne nodded her head getting the picture. He voice was low with the hint of shame and regret in her response,

"And you think that's me."

"No, that's not what I meant-" Dean started.

Dean was stopped by the look in her eyes when she looked up at him. She smiled at him as if she were telling him not to lie to her because she knew she was holding her back. Her smile pained him to think that he could hurt her like that, his best friend's fiancé. He swallowed nervously and Payne clapped his shoulder as she walked around him to grab Payton's stroller and pushed him towards the elevator. She spoke as she walked saying,

"Don't worry I'll talk to her."

She entered the elevator and pushed a button before the doors closed she said,

"Tell Rach I'll meet her downstairs."

Dean nodded his head with a sigh as the doors closed on her and he walked back into the hotel room.

Payne looked at Rachel sitting with Payton raising him up and lowering him down to her face so that she could nuzzle their noses together. She could hear Payton's laugh and the soft giggle brought a smile to her face and nearly made tears fall down her eyes. Payne stood up and said,

"Rachel put Payton down and come over here for a second."

Rachel looked at her confused for a second but when Payne encouraged her she set Payton in his stroller and walked over towards her. The stroller faced them so that Payne could see her son's face as she talked with Rachel.

"I need you to trust me okay." Payne said.

"Okay." Rachel said a little scared.

Payne laughed hearing it in her voice. She raised her hand and grabbed Rachel flipping her over on the mat. Rachel expertly landed on her feet keeping her back from actually hitting the mat. The way she reacted so quickly amazed her but it came as no surprise to Payne. Payne flipped over and stood up in that stance that Rachel could tell was her wrestling mode.

"Are you insane I'm not a wrestler Payne, I'm your baby sitter!" Rachel said alarmed.

Payne didn't make a sound she came after Rachel again with a close line but Rachel ducked under it. Payne turned around and saw Rachel trying to get out. She grabbed Rachel by the arm and closed lined her to the mat. Rachel rubbed the back of her head in pain. Payne circled around her making sure that she didn't roll away any where. Rachel leaned up as her brown hair slowly followed her and laid down on her back. Payne went to kick her in the chest but Rachel caught her leg and stood up. She dropped Payne's leg and then jumped up and round house kicked her. She landed on the mat as Payne stumbled back into the ropes with her hand on her jaw. She looked shocked for the moment then looked at Rachel with an evil smile. She came after Rachel, who was now leaning against the ropes. Rachel side stepped the attack and flipped Payne over the ropes. Payne held onto the ropes as she flipped over and caught herself on the apron. She jumped up and flipped back into the ring and kicked Rachel in the stomach. Rachel bent over in pain and Payne walked over to her and grabbed her hair pulling her up to look in her face. Rachel smacked her in the face making Payne stumble back. Payne came and smacked Rachel in the face and then Rachel smacked Payne again. Payne turned to Rachel with an amused look on her face and then kicked her long time friend in the thigh. Rachel knelt down cradling her thigh as Payne took the opportunity to run to the ropes to get some momentum. Payne came after Rachel and kneed her just barely in the shoulder. Rachel laid on the mat as Payne covered her and listened to the imaginary referee counting. Rachel kicked out before her imagined ref could reach two. Rachel rolled over and Payne pulled her hair behind her head. She grabbed Rachel and made her stand up by her hair again and then Rachel uppercut smacked Payne. Payne fell into the ropes and Rachel ran towards the ropes behind her and bounced off of them. She caught enough momentum to get her legs wrapped around her friends waist and do her move that she used to do in NXT called the ride. Rachel held onto Payne as she struggled to get her off her back. Payne eventually went limp and fell back on Rachel, Payne rolled off of Rachel and Rachel rolled onto her side as she bent her arm back enough to try and rub her back. Payne turned around and rolled Rachel onto her back to pin her. The imaginary referee counted to two before Rachel kicked out. Payne got up trying to catch her breath. She smiled, now that's what she called competition. She kept calling to Rachel to get up, to come after her. Rachel had crawled over to the ropes and helped herself stand up. Rachel turned around and saw Payne coming for her, she side stepped the spear she was trying to do and saw as Payne landed between the ropes. Rachel wrapped her arm around Payne's neck and forced her back. Payne elbowed Rachel in the stomach but Rachel didn't let go of her grip. Payne flipped her over her shoulder and went for another cover. Rachel was too tired to try and kick out she knew if she did that only meant the continuing of the match and she couldn't handle that at the moment. Payne stood up and looked down at Rachel while she was panting.

"Tell me, why did I beat you?" Payne said.

Those words reminded her of the times they trained together at NXT. She got too caught up in the fake match that she didn't realize until that moment what her friend was doing. Rachel turned her head to the side as she still lay out on the mat. She was panting as well with sweat coming down her face. She wasn't even dressed for a match. She had blue jeans on and a white fitted t- shirt and sneakers. It was too easy to say why she beat her she knew the real question was how could she have beaten her. Payne had exited the practice ring and flung the towel over her neck as she took a sip of water. Rachel finally sat up and said,

"I had a chance to put you away and I didn't take it."

"Why didn't you?" Payne asked.

"Because I was caught up in the frustration."

"What frustration, the frustration of the match, me tricking you, Dean asking the authority to give you a job?" Payne said.

Rachel looked up at her not really surprised that she knew about that. Payne flicked her eyebrows up real quick with a smile on. She took another sip of water and Rachel said,

"Settle Payne real settle."

"Thank you," Payne said with a teasing laugh.

She pulled up a chair close to Payton so that she could play with him as she talked to Rachel.

"So why won't you take the job anyway?" Payne finished.

"It's none of your business Payne." Rachel said finally out of the ring and taking a seat on the other side of the stroller Payton was in.

"Isn't it, I mean we're like sisters Rachel you've been there for me for everything."

Not everything, she thought. Payne looked at Rachel intensely,

"You can't hide from me Rachel. Tell me why you won't take the job, if it's because of Payton you have to understand he's my kid, my responsibility so if push comes to shove and I have to quit my job just to take care of him I will; I have no problem with that. This can't be what you want for the rest of you life is it? I mean since we were kids we've dreamed of being in the ring together and now you want to give that up. An opportunity like this doesn't come around very often don't just push that hand away from you Rachel."

"I can't let you down again Payne."

Payne laughed even though Rachel was completely serious at the moment,

"Let me down? Honey you've never let me down I don't see how you ever could."

"I wasn't there when-" Rachel cut herself off turning her head in shame.

"Oh for God sake, this scar had nothing to do with you. You know what; you're starting to make me wish I never called you after that night."

Rachel turned her head to look at her shocked. Payne nodded her head and said,

"Yes you heard me right. All this time you've been carrying the weight of somebody else's mistake when the out come of that day probably wouldn't have been any different if you were there. He probably would've hurt you too. Come on Rachel this scar and the story behind it has made me who I am today and it's apparent that, that phone call that day made you into who you are. Be a risk taker, try to taste life once in a while. I'm older than you remember I don't need you protecting me. Now I'm telling you to take that job that Stephanie and Vince McMahon offered you or you can consider yourself fired."

"You wouldn't." Rachel said.

"Oh I would and if you don't believe me just try it. I'd hate to have to ship your ass back off to Florida but if that's what it takes to get you to realize that you've got a chance to achieve your dream I will do it."

"Even if I did take this job what's that going to mean to Dean?" Rachel said.

Payne looked at her with a confused smile. She didn't catch on that Dean was falling hard for Rachel and they had only known each other seriously for a month. The whole point of getting her the job offer was to be able to see and talk to her more often. As long as she was able to be around him almost all the time he hoped that she'd learn how he felt for her and they could finally get to know a lot more about each other. Payne sighed as she bounced Payton on her leg, he was laughing as she looked back at Rachel.

"Dean is a complete lunatic but he's only ever calm when he's around you. I mean the kind of calm where you see parts of Dean you never thought existed. Maybe the reason you're getting this job offer is to get closer to him. Trust me I've seen the way your body reacts when he touches you, how you tense up when he smiles at you and you seem to look as if he's the only other person in the room when he smiles at you. I know how you feel because I've been there. It's a great feeling take advantage of the chance that you get to work with your boyfriend and get your dream job as well."

"Yeah but what if he figures out that he doesn't like me any more."

"The thing I learned a long time ago is that you get hurt no matter what, there's no way to avoid that whether you're good or not but I also learned that if you don't take the leap of faith you'll always be wondering what would've happened if you did." Payne said.

Rachel looked at Payne with a serious expression. They both turned their heads towards the door when they heard it open. They saw Roman, Dean and Seth walk into the room; Rachel and Dean made eye contact and Dean gave her a slight smile that showed his dimples which made Rachel blush. Payne turned her head from Roman masking any signs of fear behind her happiness that Payton was smiling. She still hadn't talked to him about his match with Lesnar and she wasn't sure how she was going to. All she knew was that there were two secrets she was hiding from Roman and she was too afraid of the response she'd get from him when she told him one of them and it wasn't about how she felt about his match. Roman walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and patted Payton's head. Payton laughed and tried to grab Roman's hand when it was on his head but he pulled it away before the infant had a chance to grab on. Roman kissed her again on her cheek then on her neck and then came back up to her ear and said,

"Can we talk?"

Payne took in a breath cautiously and without looking at him she said,

"No I have to go, there's a signing I have to get ready for I should go take a shower and wash up."

"Do you need me to take Payton?" Rachel asked focusing on their conversation.

Payne gave Rachel a look that signaled her to turn the other way. Rachel knew then that she was playing keep away again. She rolled her eyes and thought how in the world could her friend force her to take a leap of faith with her relationship when she won't do the same for her own. Payne shook her head no in response to her and then got up from under Roman's body. His chest were giving off a heat that she didn't want to be next to at the moment partly because they were in a public place surrounded by friends and partly because she didn't want to deal with him. She didn't turn to him as she said goodbye but she looked at the other's as she said her farewell's. Seth motioned to Roman to go follow her as Dean sat down next to Rachel for a moment to ask her how she was. Roman walked over to Payne and grabbed her wrist as she was pushing to stroller to the door.

"Payne wait."

Payne turned around and looked at his hand holding her wrist then up at him with an irritated look. Roman let go of her and walked up to her until he was towering over her and his hair was water falling down the sides of his face. Payne maintained that hard expression but she couldn't help but feel aroused by that look on his face and the heat coming from his body even through his clothes. Roman wrapped an arm around her waist bringing her even closer to him and he placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her. There was a light moan into his mouth as she struggled to keep her cool and not melt in his arms. She didn't resist the kiss though, she felt that it would make him believe that she was there for him, which would help her later on when she told him, at least that's what she hoped. There tongues entangled each other burning Payne up more then Roman moved away from her. Payne swallowed then tried to catch her breath as she looked at the ground. Roman could've sworn he saw her blushing and couldn't decide to smile because he thought it was cute or keep that hard face because he didn't want to make her angry.

"What was that for?" Payne said.

"Just wanted to make sure you were still here." Roman said.

The response struck her heart as she looked up at him shocked. He was actually caught off guard by her expression, he raised his hand to cradle her cheek again to tell her he didn't mean to hurt her but she turned away from him lightly pushing his hand away from her face and said,

"I'll see you back at the hotel Roman."

Payne left with Payton as Roman watched her leave, leaving him to be completely confused about what just happened.