Uff, I don't know why, but this chapter was very hard to write! I struggled with it, I deleted a good part of it to write it all over again and well, at the end I kind of rushed it. Hopefully the next one will write itself more smoothly, lol. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and well wishes, now enjoy ;)

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Six days ago, when Beth turned off her phone and walked out of Phil's hotel room to head back to the safety of her house in Buffalo, she has been a hundred percent sure that putting distance between them would prove to be the best cure for her feelings for him.

True, she has been well aware that creating said distance was going to be hard with him being the father of her unborn baby, but if she could manage to at least cut any unnecessary communication with him until the baby was born, then chances of her crawling out of the infatuation phase she has succumbed into were going to increase.

That line of thought has come into her mind six days ago… and during those six days she has evaded talking to him as if he was the black plague.

At first she just turned off her phone, but because it was impossible to maintain it off for all eternity, she turned it back on the next morning to find that he had texted her a few times during the night.

The first message has been simple enough, a 'where are you?' that came about one hour after the two of them had left his hotel room; the second was almost on the same line, Phil asking her to call him to know if she was alright. Now, the third and last one came at four in the morning of the next day and that one read like this; 'Fine, I get it. Won't bother you anymore.'

It has been that last text the one that hit her the most and because of those simple words she had spent the whole day in full weepy mode, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

The second and third days were a bit better but not by much, as she would find herself staring at her phone and fighting the urge to call him. By day five things hadn't changed and now it was this, day six and she couldn't take it anymore.

So yes, it took her six days to understand that staying away wasn't going to do anything for her and that forced her to come to the conclusion that she needed to put her pride and feelings aside so she could apologize to him.

Now, she didn't necessarily believe that apologizing to him would be a matter of admitting that she was wrong and the man right, no… more than that, she saw it as a way to mend things with him, a way to make things go back to the way they were before.

Sure, that would be a little tricky on her part because of her feelings for him and of course, the way their relationship had turned into, but she was willing to put that aside just to have him in her life once again.

It hadn't been a tough decision, after all she was really sorry that things ended the way they did and she was sure that a sincere apology would flow out of her mouth just by taking a look at him.

That was the reason she was there, lifting her hand to knock on the door that has been mocking her with the simplicity of its wooden frame for the past ten minutes or so and fully aware that she should expect a lot of things out of that visit.

In fact, she should expect the unexpected and she knew it.

And seriously, on the long journey she has taken to make it to Chicago and to Phil's door, a lot of scenarios had been dancing on her mind and she had considered all of them. After all this was the man that possessed a Pipebomb as a voice and well, she knew for a fact that predictability was an attribute he didn't have in him.

Their last encounter hadn't ended up so well and for all she knew, he could open the door, see her standing there and silently close the door on her face; or he could get angry at seeing her at his door and bombard her with his infamous cutting words… or maybe none of those and instead he could simply smile and let her pass as if nothing out of the ordinary happened between them.

Maybe something entirely different could happen… she hadn't been exactly sure, but if there was something she hadn't been expecting, was for someone else to open the door of his apartment, especially not 'this' someone…

"Hey, Beth." The woman said a bit over enthusiastically and Beth couldn't lie, she was at a loss of words.

Opening her mouth and closing it again, the blonde just placed a hand protectively over her pregnant stomach and then smiled, the smile feeling forced and fake. But it was only then that she was able to find her voice.

"Hey yourself… Amy." She said, an empty sense of being proud over the fact that her voice didn't falter washing through her.

But God, it was taking all the power of her being not to turn around and leave at the sight of Phil's ex standing there, smiling at her as if it was the most natural thing in the world for the two of them to run into each other at his door.

Sure, she knew that both Phil and Amy had a very amicable breakup and that they had remained friends… but she wasn't aware that their friendship consisted on them meeting at his place in the middle of the night.

"Oh my God look at you! Wow, this was something I had to see to believe." As the woman standing inside of Phil's apartment said that, her eyes lowered down to Beth's stomach and then she shook her head. "So, a little Punk on the way, uh?"

"Yup," Beth replied simply, her hand staying in place. At least Amy knew about the baby being Phil's, what she wondered was how much did she know...

Biting down a bigger smile, Amy opened the door wider as if to let her walk in. "Come on, Phil's taking a shower, I'll let him know you are here."

Blinking her eyes a few times, Beth forced another smile upon her face. "No… don't worry, I don't want to interrupt anything. I was…" Lifting her hand up to her hair, she blew out a breath, not really knowing what to say.

It was just an awkward moment and she just wanted to flee the scene as soon as she could.

"Oh no, no, don't you worry, we were just-"

"No, really, I just came to give him this." Swallowing down, she reached into her purse with slightly trembling hands and took out a small envelope to hand it to Amy. "I just thought he would like to see it. Anyway, I'll just go."

With that said, she turned on her heels and closing her eyes in shame, she started to walk toward the elevator.

"God, you are so stupid." She mumbled to herself as she stabbed angrily the small button on the panel that would make the elevator come to Phil's floor.

What had she been thinking anyway? Ugh, thank heavens that she could somehow save face by bringing the latest 3D sonogram of the baby to give him. Yeah, it could seem weird that she came all the way to Chicago just to give him that, but whatever.

That has been the only thing she could come up with and at the situation at hand, it would have to do.

"Come on." She hissed, feeling almost desperate to board the elevator. She didn't want an encounter with Phil, not in that moment that she was feeling out of her element.

Ah, not that an encounter was necessarily going to happen; she didn't know what was the deal between Amy and Phil, but who was to say that the former Diva would tell Phil that she came by?

For all she knew they were back together and Amy didn't want her boyfriend to meet with the woman that was going to make him a father.

At that thought, Beth felt her heart grow heavy in her chest. Six days… a lot could happen in six days and didn't her mother tell her? Phil was going to stick around her as long as his interest for her could last.

Blinking her eyes closed and scratching her head almost compulsively, the soon to be mother heard the elevator stop and open its doors in front of her. At the sound, she opened her eyes to step inside, but when she turned around to press the button to go down to the lobby, she saw Phil holding the doors open so he could go in as well.

Clenching her jaw and feeling all the blood of her body drain down to her feet, the blonde stared straight into the green orbs that were his eyes and remained mute. He wasn't saying anything either and as much as she tried to, she couldn't even manage to flash his way a smile.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked at last when the doors of the elevator closed behind his back.

At the question, Beth blinked slowly, taking notice that just as Amy told her, Phil has been taking a shower. She knew because his hair was still wet and the shirt he picked up to put on was damp as well, almost as if he put it on before getting to dry off.

There was also the fresh scent of soap and shampoo clinging to him and well, he was also barefoot; thing that he didn't seem to notice or mind.

Clearing her throat and hoping that her heart would stop beating so hard and fast against her chest, Beth tilted her head up. "Hello, Phil."

At her words, the Chicago native lifted his hand and showed her the sonogram pictures.

"That was from my last check up, thought you may want to see them."

"So you can come all the way here to drop this by but you can't pick up your phone to call. That's rad, Beth, very rad."

Picking up the small trace of anger in his voice, Beth closed her eyes and blew out a breath. "I didn't come here to argue- I actually came to apologize about the other night."

There, that was a start; might as well be done with it now that she was there.

Humming, Phil pushed the inside of his cheek with his tongue. "Apologize? Apologize to whom? To my door? Oh, maybe it was to my doorman and that's why you are on your way out." He said sarcastically, his eyes piercing her in place.

Choosing to ignore his obvious rotten mood, Beth chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head. "Actually I came to apologize to you; I just thought that I better leave it for another time since you are obviously busy tonight."

Snorting without amusement, Phil ran his fingers through his dark locks and turned around as if to leave; but because they were still trapped inside the elevator, he stopped on his tracks and threw his head back.

Beth watched him, a big part of her wanting to reach for him and touch him. But she didn't, of course…

"I'm really sorry that things turned out so bad between us. I- what I told you that night is true; I care a lot about you and I would hate for us to drift apart because of some stupid argument."

"Funny. I mean you say that you don't want us to drift apart but it was you the one that ran away and it was you the one that decided to ignore all my calls and messages."

Pursing her lips, Beth decided to reply with a calmed and even tone. "I didn't run away; you left the room and under the circumstances, I thought it was best for me to leave as well."

"Oh don't you fucking give me that, Beth." Phil blurted out while turning to her and at his tone Beth flinched; but then as if realizing the tone he was using, he took in a deep breath and lowered his voice. "I told you to stay in the room until I came back but you still ran off. And not only that, but you also started to ignore my calls and only now, six days later, you decide to show your face! Jesus, Beth; if it wasn't because Natalya told me you were fine, I would have thought that something happened to you."

Lowering her eyes and her jaw clenching once again, Beth nodded. "You are right; that's why I came here to apologize; I should have talked to you sooner. I… I also want to apologize for the things I said. I didn't mean to imply that you used me or anything like that…"

At her words, Phil blinked slowly. But he didn't say anything thought and deep inside she resented him for it. Why couldn't he say something, anything?

"So, I'm really sorry… I appreciate your friendship very much and I don't want it to end; especially now that the baby is coming soon and well, you know…" Biting hard on her lips and locking eyes with him, Beth finished up.

On his part, the current WWE champion quirked his lips and shrugged almost indifferently. Ah, but there was a glint in his eyes that told Beth that he was acting out of anything but indifference. "It's okay, no hard feelings."

Smiling a faint smile because at least she could have his friendship if not his love, Beth extended her hand towards him; offering it as a sign of peace. "So, friends?"

With his eyes glued to hers, Phil took her hand in his. He didn't shake it though as it has been her intention, he just held it in his and flashed her way a crooked smile. "Yeah, friends."

"Good," Beth said almost shyly. "I guess I better leave so you can… go on with your night."

Thinking back on the woman waiting at his apartment, Beth's eyes casted down a shadow but the smile never faded off. If she wanted them to remain friends, then she couldn't allow herself to get jealous of his other 'lady friends'.

"You don't have to go, I mean it."

"No; I don't want to ruin your plans or anything. I came, I apologize so I'm out. I want to stick to the plan."

"Come on, we are heading out to Colt's to do a podcast, you'll like it."

"I know I would, but I kind of have a flight to take and I don't want to miss it." A lie, but he didn't have to know, right?

But what else could she say? The last thing in the world that she wanted was to spend the night with both Phil and Amy. True, it could be that the two of them were nothing more than friends, but she still didn't like the idea of the three of them going out together.

"Maybe some other time." She said, trying to smile as genuinely as she could.

"Alright then;" Phil said, still holding her hand while staring directly into her eyes. "I guess we'll talk some other day."

"Sure, I'm going to go now."

Nodding, Phil pulled at her hand to bring her close to him. Beth went willingly and automatically rested her face against his chest as soon as his arms came to circle her.

Closing her eyes and breathing on his scent, Beth sighed. God, the next couple of weeks were going to be hard, feeling so much for him and holding back. But hopefully, when the baby came, all her focus would be on him and thus, little by little she would be able to get over him.

"You know I love you, right?" Phil said, pulling apart and moving his hands to her face to make her look up.

That way, with her eyes on his and her heart on the back of her throat, she smiled. "I know," And she did, she knew he loved her in his own kind of way. But still, it was the first time he ever told her that and well… it melted her heart a little bit. "I love you too; I wouldn't have asked you to be a part of this if I didn't."

"I know," He said as a reply before leaning forward to kiss her cheek. Once that was done, he turned around, pressed a button so the doors would open and stepped out.

For a while Beth remained there, watching him walk to his door.

Yes… a rough couple of weeks they were going to be, but it was what it was and there was nothing she could do about it.

TBC?