When Yara landed in Pittsburgh, she knew she'd have to haul a taxi to the Consol Energy Arena to meet Colby for Monday Night Raw. She didn't know what exactly to expect when she got to the arena, or what would happen during the show; all she knew was that it was live, and Colby would probably have a match against somebody ("I'll make sure it's against a friend so he can make me look good," he joked). Slightly nervous and half-wondering if she was too dressed up again, like she was at the Performance Centre, Yara headed to Monday Night Raw.

When the cab dropped her off, she was immediately on the phone with Colby. He answered on at least the seventh ring. "Hey you. Are you here?"

"Yup."

"Which entrance? I'm gonna have to come get you."

"Uhhhhh…" Yara looked around at her surroundings, trying to find the gate number. "The cabbie dropped me off right at the front, if that helps."

"So like gate one?"

"I would assume so."

"Alright, stay there. I'm coming for you."

Yara was impatient as she waited the almost ten minutes for Colby to come get her. Various others had gone in through the doors, past the security that eyed her suspiciously, but she was still standing outside. She wondered if any of the people walking past her were Colby's fellow wrestlers, if they'd recognize her once she was inside.

Colby finally arrived, wearing a Tapout shirt and workout tights. He had a lanyard hanging from his hand as he opened the door, holding it open with his foot. "Get over here, sexy."

"Don't start."

"Why not?"

"Not here! Not in front of your co-workers."

"There's nobody around!"

Yara relented, giving him a quick kiss on the lips as she stood in the open doorway. Colby stayed slightly bent, signalling he wanted more, but Yara didn't give him what we wanted. "You don't have to be nervous, Yara."

"Really? What makes you think that?" she asked sarcastically. "I don't want to make you look unprofessional."

"Please, you are not going to make me look unprofessional. To be perfectly honest you class the place up, so if anything it'll make me look more professional."

"I don't believe that."

"Come on, let's just go inside," Colby grabbed her hand. "You're going to near to wear this, just so people know who you are," he dangled the lanyard in front of her.

She quickly put it around her neck and followed Colby into the building, her hand in his. "Where are we going to go first?" she asked him.

"Uhhh…depends. Are you hungry or can you wait?"

"It doesn't really matter to me."

"Okay…let's go find some of my friends first, then we can go down to catering together."

In no time at all Colby had knocked on a door, waiting for it to be opened. A tall, muscular, bald-headed man opened the door. "You're back."

"I'm back."

"And you brought a guest."

"Sure did."

The bald man opened the door wider to let them in. There was another man sitting in the corner, tall and ginger, who noticed them come in. "Hey," he smiled as he saw them. He stood up from his chair politely, walking over to them and extending his hand. "You must be Yara."

"The one and only."

"I'm Rami, it's so nice to meet you! Colby's told me about you."

"Good things, I hope."

"The best things," Rami smiled.

"And I'm Claudio," the bald man said from behind her, extending his own hand so she could shake it as well. "It's great that you could come to Pittsburgh."

"Oh, well, you know…it's just a hop, skip, and jump away from New York City," Yara smiled. "I'm really happy I could make it."

"We're happy you could make it too!" Rami exclaimed. "Here, come sit down. Come, come, take my seat, come. Colby and I were discussing our match tonight before you called," Rami led Yara to the chair he had been sitting on. She sat in it, Rami disappearing briefly to get other chairs from behind the room's partition. With no table in between them to act as a buffer, Yara thought this would resemble a séance.

"Colby tell us you're a writer," Claudio began.

"Yeah, I'm a writer for this magazine and website called the New York Social. We cover events in New York and the Hamptons," Yara smiled shyly.

"What kind of events?"

"Oh, mostly charity events, launches, that sort of stuff. That's where Colby and I met," she said, looking over at him.

"Oooh that's right! Are you the one who bought the WWE Experience for the Performance Centre?" Claudio asked.

Yara smiled. It was the oldest trick in the book – bring up something you know for a fact, but frame it as a question, so the person answering gives you even more information. She used it all the time in her line of work – all the time. Rami and Claudio thought they were such great actors, but Yara knew that they knew every single detail about her. What she did for a living, where she lived, that she was really from Vancouver. They were guys, after all, and guys weren't that much different from girls, especially when they get started talking about the women in their lives. "Yup, that's me."

"How did you like it?"

"Oh, it was great. Matt and Sara are amazing. Colby made me…" she drew a blank. "What's the saying again?" she asked, looking at him.

"Cut a promo," he filled in the blank.

"Right! He made me cut a promo, which was terrifying, but everything else was great."

"I'd like to see that promo," Claudio quipped.

"No, you really don't."

"Are you sure? There's probably a lot of untapped potential in there."

"I'm positive, but thanks for having so much faith in me."

As the four continued to talk, their stomachs eventually began to grumble, and an executive decision was made (by Rami) to head to catering. Along the way, they ran into a few more of Colby's colleagues – a woman by the name of Pamela who had a high side-ponytail and a headband with a giant bow, and a man named Kevin, who seemed particularly close with Rami. As they approached a free table, Yara felt a buzz in her pocket. She volunteered to stay back at the table, so she could read it, while the others grabbed their food.

U ended up going to Pittsburgh. Can't believe u!

Yara sighed reading the text message from Laura. She just wouldn't quit. She typed a short reply – 'Told you I was going. Don't know why you're so surprised.'

"Are you having a good time so far?" Claudio's voice startled Yara for a moment – she thought he'd gone to get food. Instead he sat right across from her.

"Yeah! It's been fun. You and Rami are great. I can't wait for the show to start," she said.

"You know, you must like him a lot to fly to Pittsburgh to see him," Claudio smiled, cutting right to the chase. There was no need to meander around the elephant in the room.

"I do like him a lot," Yara confirmed quietly. "I think he's great."

"That's good. Cause he really likes you too. He won't shut up about you."

Yara couldn't help but smile. "Likewise. My best friend complains he's all I talk about."

"And you know about his 2015?"

That came out of left field. "Yeah, I do."

"And?"

Yara took a second to make sure what she said came out right. No doubt Claudio would be judging her, or reporting back to Rami, or Colby, or both. "Cheating is unforgiveable in a relationship but I don't necessarily think someone's a bad person because of it. There's always a story, always a reason."

"That's a pretty diplomatic answer."

"It has to be," Yara said. "I've been on the receiving end of my fiancé cheating on me."

Claudio's eyebrows rose in shock. "And you're hanging out with Colby?"

"I know. You don't have to say it."

"Does he know?"

"He does. I almost regret telling him because it made him feel like he had to do some sort of penance."

"Penance?"

"Like, he almost felt the need to make it up to me, even though he wasn't the one who cheated on me," Yara explained. "He thought that simply existing in my life was hurting me in some way."

"But it doesn't."

"Of course not. He's done his time. He has those pictures all over the internet for the rest of his life. That's punishment enough."

"Do you see it lasting long term, despite everything?" Claudio asked, noticing Colby and Rami making their way back from the buffet.

Yara didn't have to think long for the answer to that question. "I do. I really do."

"So Rami has graciously decided to teach you about wrestling tonight since I have to do a few backstage segments and won't be around much," Colby said as he and Rami approached the table again, setting their plates of food down. "You're lucky, Yara. You're gonna be learning from the best."

"Awww shucks," Rami said, waving off Colby's comment comedically as Yara smiled at him. "You guys should probably go get your food – especially you, Yara. You don't want to go after all the wrestlers have gone, you'll end up with one potato and maybe some veggies, if you're lucky."

After Yara grabbed some food with Claudio, she noticed more people joined them at their table – Pamela and Kevin, from before, and a new face: a beautiful bubbly blonde. Yara brought her plate over and set it on the table beside Colby, since the seat beside him was left empty.

"Yara, this is Danielle," Colby introduced them immediately, since they were now sitting beside each other. "Danielle, this is Yara."

"It's really nice to meet you," Danielle smiled, shaking Yara's hand. "Rami said you live in New York?"

"Yeah, near 5th and east 81st," Yara replied.

"Manhattan digs? Nice! I grew up in Manhasset."

"Oh!" Yara exclaimed happily. "I love Manhasset. I had a friend whose family is from there."

"Not as nice as Manhattan though," Danielle laughed.

"Do you still live there?"

"No, I live in Chicago now. Which is how I became friends with that loser," she smiled, nodding her head towards Colby, making Yara giggle.

"Hey! Come on now. Who ran drills with you in FCW?" Danielle's answer was to roll her eyes. "Daniieeeellllle, I'm waaaaiiitiiiinng."

"Shut up, Colby."

Most of the conversation continued like this, friendly banter between the wrestlers, with Yara understanding only about half of what they were saying. From the offset, she had no idea what FCW was and was too afraid to ask. It snowballed from there. Despite this, Yara was content with just listening, inputting every so often when it was neutral enough for her to do so. She was entertained by their stories and how animated they were. She began to find herself wondering how long Colby had known them for, and how many other wrestlers he had trained besides Danielle.

True to his word, after he changed into his ring gear, Rami sat with Yara near a monitor and explained the ins and outs of wrestling to her. She felt like she needed a notebook; she felt like she was learning a new language, or in her first year of university, and needed to take notes. Rami told her about heels and babyfaces (which she had learned to write her article); about the 'independents', where he and Colby spent many years, and the various names of the promotions and why they were great or horrible; about 'kayfabe', and how Colby's character in kayfabe was a giant asshole; about Colby in Florida Championship Wrestling (that was FCW!), how he was the inaugural NXT Champion, and how he got "called up" with the Shield, which was a sort of faction, as Yara understood it. There was no doubt Rami had an encyclopaedic knowledge of wrestling, and Yara was all the better for it.

When Monday Night Raw was over, Claudio found Yara and led her to the corridor where one of the men's locker rooms was, popping his head in to tell Colby that she was waiting outside. A lot of different faces went in and out of the room, all while she stood awkwardly about 15 feet away, waiting. As she waited, she took out her phone again to see if Laura had texted her anything else.

Yankee player is here. Could have used you tonight.

He's seriously hitting on me right now…after everything!

What a dick!

How was the wrestling show?

Did you meet any of his friends?

"There you are," she heard Colby's voice as he emerged from the locker room, a small suitcase trailing behind him. He had showered, his long hair up in a messy bun, and he wore black pants, one of his t-shirts, and a sports jacket. "Sorry I took so long."

"That's alright," Yara said quietly, happy that he was here.

He approached her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a strong hug. "How was Rami?"

"He's like an encyclopaedia."

"Isn't he nuts?"

Yara giggled. "A little bit, but in a loveable way. He reminds me of Kramer."

"That's not the first time I've heard that, surprisingly," Colby said, looking down at her. He gave her a quick kiss but it left her wanting more. "Listen…some of the guys are planning to convene for drinks at a bar down the street from the hotel. Do you want to join or-"

Colby wasn't able to finish his sentence with Yara kissing him, almost immediately sticking her tongue down his throat, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. When she pulled back, she shook her head no. "I just want you to bring me back to the hotel."

"Thought so."

XXXXXXXXXX

Despite the obvious insinuation of Yara's "I just want you to bring me back to the hotel", she almost immediately fell asleep in the car, truly showing her fatigue. He knew she had worked earlier that day before her flight, so it was all catching up to her. It was already just past midnight and Colby didn't want to make her do anything. It had been a while since they had seen each other but he invited her to Raw with no pretences – it was more so of a 'come meet my friends, see what I do for a living' rather than 'come to X city and hook up with me' sort of invitation.

Yara only woke up when Colby shook her, after he had parked in the back parking lot, close to the door. He gathered their bags from the trunk and they walked inside, taking the elevator up to the 10th floor.

"Did you have fun tonight?" he asked quietly as they waited for the elevator to reach their destination.

"I did. I learned so much."

"Thanks for flying out. It uh…it means a lot to me that you're here."

Yara gave him a sleepy smile before she lifted herself off from leaning against the elevator wall. She brought her lips to his, giving him a kiss. "It means a lot to me that you invited me," she said after she pulled away slightly. "But I have a feeling we're going to be doing a lot of this in the future."

A shiver went up Colby's back as she said those words. Yara didn't seem to notice as she cradled her head on his chest, but now Colby was alert, completely wide away, mulling those words over and over again in his mind.

It stopped – kind of, not really – when Yara began kissing him again inside their hotel room. The kisses were unlike last time, when they were fervent, impassioned, rushed; instead they were slow, tender, and loving. They collapsed onto the bed together, eventually lying side by side as they kept kissing, Yara's right leg hooked over Colby's body.

When Colby rolled Yara over so she was on her back, he left a trail of kisses down her neck and collarbone, moving towards her chest. She sighed, savouring the feeling of his lips against her skin. "I can't get enough of you," she mumbled.

Colby looked up at her; her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip, smiling slightly. "Yara," Colby said, before he could realize what he was saying. "We need to talk."

Yara didn't immediately stiffen. Those were probably the four scariest words in the English language when put together, and she didn't even blink an eye. He moved up so their faces were close and she gave him one last tender kiss. "About what?"

"Are you my girl?"

Yara couldn't help but smile and giggle slightly at his choice of words. She was pretty sure a boy who wanted to date her while in high school used those exact words. "Colby, are we in high school?"

Almost immediately, she regretted saying those words. She could see Colby get frustrated, the conversation now due to take a complete 180-degree turn. "Well excuse me for wanting to make things official," he growled, getting off her and moving to the other side of the bed.

"Colby, I didn't mean it like th-"

"Sure, sure."

"Colby."

"You got a lot of nerve, you know? Sticking your tongue down my throat and asking me to bring you back to the hotel," he said. "And then you pull this."

"I'm so-"

"You know I like you, Yara. You know I want to be with you."

"I know you do, Colby."

"Then what's the problem? Don't tell me it has something to do with Connor because you were plenty okay with me fingering you in a car and us being together after that God-awful handbag event."

"It has nothing to do with Connor," Yara said. "You know how I feel about you too. You know I like you a lot."

"Then I'm gonna ask you one more time – are you my girl or not?"

"Of course I'm your girl, Colby. Of course."

Two words. All it took was two words.