A/N: Big thanks go to xHalosandwings, Bubblyjayy, hardyrhodescenafan1, poisenousprincess, beautifultragedyxxx and nikki1335 for reviewing the last chapter, I love you all!

This one is basically a filler but it needed to be done. I hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think! I've got lots of inspiration for this at the minute seeing as I got a reply from the man himself off twitter earlier, eek, so you give me reviews and I'll give you an update real soon!

Chapter 12

Tegan

Before I knew it, five days had passed by and it was yet again time for Smackdown. Five days that not too long ago, would have meant everything. Five days that I most definitely couldn't have afforded to lose.

But now, as I walked into the Diva's locker room and threw my things down on the bench, taking no notice of the people that surrounded to me, I didn't care. There was now exactly one week and a day left in the bet, but that didn't matter to me anymore. I was done with it.

"Tegan?"

I froze, my hands half way finished unzipping my bag as I turned to the side, letting out a small sigh when I noticed my best friend stood beside me, already dressed in her own ring attire. We were taking part in a tag team match tonight, she and Melina against Maryse and myself. On paper it sounded great, but the last thing I needed right now was to be around Nattie when she had worked out the truth, even in the ring.

"What do you want, Nattie?" I sighed, my eyes returning to my bag as I pulled my clothes from it.

I hadn't spoken to her since the day in the pool, and I really didn't want to start now. In fact, I'd barely spoken to anyone since that day, including Nic – excluding the countless times he had tried and failed to talk to me and ask me what was wrong.

"I wanted to see if you were okay, I haven't seen you since... well, since we talked. Did I say something wrong? I have a feeling you're mad with me."

I shook my head, stopping once again as I turned around to face her. Her expression was a mixture of sympathy and worry, and I wondered if she knew just how much her words had affected me – or just how much they'd made me realise what I was truly doing.

"No, I'm not mad at you. The only person I'm mad at is myself."

My best friend pulled a confused face, and I sighed, looking around the room to make sure nobody else was listening in to our conversation. I really didn't need nosy girls overhearing about the bet and running to tell everyone, but luckily for me we were the only two in the room.

"I don't understand, Tee. You shouldn't be angry with yourself, you've done nothing wrong."

"Yes, I have," I replied with a frustrated groan, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't agreed to this stupid bet in the first place, then none of this would have happened. I would have still hated Nic because I'd think he was an ass, I wouldn't have to feel guilty every single damn time he's in my mind, which is all the time, by the way," I stopped for a breath, my eyes sad as they found hers, "And I wouldn't be feeling this way."

A moment of silence passed between us, and Nattie's eyes grew wide with recognition. I could feel my cheeks growing redder at my confession, but it wasn't like she hadn't worked most of it out already. She knew I felt something for him... she just didn't know how much until now.

"You can't give up on him now, Tegan. Not if you feel that way," She shook her head, "Just carry on with the bet, he'll never have to know, that way you can still have your title shot if you win, but you can also still be with him."

"No, no way," I shot back, angry that she'd even come up with the idea of continuing with it, "I'm not doing it, Nat. It's not just about him. As much as I don't want to hurt him, I don't want to do it to myself, either."

"Tegan..."

"No, please," I interrupted, turning away so that she wouldn't see the tears threatening to fall from my eyes, "I don't want to talk about it any longer. Nothing you say is going to change my mind."

Awkwardness set in as my best friend continued to stand beside me, but neither of us spoke. I began to sift through my bag again, hoping for a distraction. Finally, once Nattie realised I was telling the truth, I heard a small sigh escape her lips and knew by her footsteps that she was beginning to walk away from me.

"Okay, well, I'm going to catering. If you change your mind and you want to talk, you know where I am," She spoke up, before I heard the door close behind her.

Once I was alone, I dropped all my things on top of my bag and took a seat on the bench, quickly wiping away the tears with my hands. I felt so weak, allowing my emotions to get the better of me like that, but I'd never expected this to hurt so much when I first agreed to the bet three weeks earlier. I'd never expected to care about the guy who my best friend had chosen for me to use, and I'd definitely never expected to want something more than the title...

But now, it no longer mattered. I may have wanted Nic, I may have wanted the belt, but now that I had stopped myself from carrying on with the bet I would be getting neither. Although the thought pained me on both accounts, at least I wouldn't be hurting anyone else while I was at it.

Nic

I sat in the cafeteria, pushing the salad in front of me around the plate with my fork, having no intention of eating any of it. The only reason I was there in the first place was because it was the busiest part of the arena, and I'd hoped more than anything that Tegan would at least make an appearance there... but it was now barely twenty minutes before the show started, and I'd not seen her once.

Who was I kidding? She wasn't going to turn up there. She wasn't going to go anywhere near a place where she had the slightest chance of seeing me. For the past five days she had done nothing but avoid me, and on the few occasions I'd actually managed to catch her, she'd wanted nothing to do with me. She had to know... what else could the reason be behind it?

And the worst part of it all wasn't that there was only one week left of the bet, or the fact that John was constantly teasing me with that stupid smug look on his face.

The worst part was that I'd hurt her... and the thought of that killed me.

As I pushed the plate away from me, I shook my head, scowling at myself. Why did I have to be such a fucking idiot? I should have just said no to this god damn bet in the first place. I had known the minute John had picked Tegan that she was going to be trouble, but I never in a million years knew just how much.

It was like she'd turn me in to a totally different person. Before she came along I wasn't like that. I didn't care about a woman's feelings and I never thought of them as more than a one night stand, at most perhaps a small fling. I didn't give a shit about anyone but myself.

If only I could go back to three weeks ago and say no. I'd much rather be that guy than the miserable excuse for one that sat at this table now.

"Nic?"

I looked up through my lashes, a sneer obscuring my features as I saw who it was. What the hell did she want? Was she there to make me feel even worse about myself? To give me a piece of her mind about the bet? If she was, then I knew it wouldn't be long before I snapped. I knew how wrong I'd been, I didn't need someone else lecturing me about it.

"What is it, Nattie?" I sighed, leaning back in my seat and folding my arms over my chest as I eyed her with a raised eyebrow. I made sure to pull the arrogant mask back over my face. I didn't need her seeing how much I was really affected by Tegan.

"I'm here to talk about... about Tegan," She added reluctantly as she took the seat across from me.

"Look," I leaned forward and rolled my eyes, "If you're here to bitch..."

"No, not at all," She interrupted, her eyes wide as she shook her head back and forth.

Despite wanting to hide how I felt, I couldn't help but stare at her in confusion. If she wasn't there to lecture me... then what was she there for?

"I... I don't understand," I lifted my eyebrow again, "She's not mad at me?"

"Not that I know of," She shook her head, her eyes quickly narrowing in suspicion, "Why, is there a reason she should be?"

I sat back, my eyes wide, wondering what the hell I was listening to. She wasn't mad at me? Then how come she'd been completely avoiding me the last few days? Surely it had to do with me... right?

"No," I shook my head frantically, thinking of a cover up, "It's just... she's barely even spoken to me the past few days, so how could I not think I'd done something wrong? I just worry about her, Nattie," I shrugged, my eyes finding the table as I realised just how truthful my words were.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that," I looked up to see the smallest of smiles on her face, "Now I don't know if you're the guy that Tegan makes out, but if you are, then you're going to want to help her as much as I do."

"Of course I want to help her," I nodded, leaving out the part I didn't want anyone to know. And I want her back, more than anything.

"That's good," Nattie nodded in return, "You see, I tried to talk to her just now but she was having none of it. I have no idea what it is that's bothering her, or if this will work, but I think the only person that might be able to get through to her is you."

I stared across the table at her, wondering if she was just fucking with me, but by the expression she was sending me I could tell she was deadly serious. Why, out of everyone, would Tegan listen to me? Perhaps whatever was bothering her wasn't my doing, but that sure as hell didn't mean she wanted me to be around her. She'd made that pretty obvious as of late.

"I don't know," I sighed, looking down at the table, my fingers drawing invisible patterns across it, "I've tried to speak to her so many times in the past few days, but she wouldn't listen to me. It was like she didn't even want to be near me."

"So try again! She's pushing us away because she's scared of something, but that doesn't mean we can't be there for her. So it might not work straight away, but eventually she's going to break and confide in one of us, and I'm pretty sure that someone is you."

I looked back up into the eyes of Tegan's best friend, noticing that they were pleading with my own. She and I had never really liked each other before the bet, I was pretty sure she still didn't like me, but she'd still come to see me for my help... because of Tegan. She meant a lot to her, as she did me. It was going to be hard to turn her down.

And besides, I knew she was right. Even if she didn't want me there, I still needed to be there for her. Whether I was the one she needed to talk to about her problems or not.

"So, will you talk to her again?"

"I'll try," I nodded her way, "I'll go see her again later, when we get back to the hotel."

A grin grew across Nattie's face as she got what she wanted, and I had to refrain from rolling my eyes. I was glad she could be happy about it, because I definitely wasn't. I was pretty much dreading having to try and speak to Tegan again, especially if she was yet again going to push me away.

"Thank you, Nic. So much," She smiled one last time, before she pushed herself out of her seat and disappeared, leaving me alone with my not so happy thoughts.

But it didn't take long for the seat across from me to be filled again. When I looked up to see who it was, my eyes narrowed instantly. Nattie hadn't exactly been my favourite person to talk to, but I'd definitely take her over him any day.

"What the hell do you want, John?" I spat, glaring at him angrily.

"Woah man, no need for the hostility," He chuckled, holding his arms up in the air, a water bottle placed in one of his hands, "I just thought you looked a little lonely over here, you know... without Tegan."

"Shut the fuck up." I growled, in no mood for playing games. Jomo had pushed me far too much over the past few days, and he was really starting to get on my last nerve.

"Hey now, I'm only looking out for you. I guess things still aren't going well for you, then?" He leaned his elbows on the table, smirking over at me.

I shot daggers his way, my hands clenched into fists at my side as I desperately tried to control myself. I wanted more than anything to punch him squarely in the jaw, but my life was fucked up enough as it was. I didn't need to be in trouble with my boss on top of it all.

"You know what, man," I sighed, standing up from my seat and gazing down at him, "I... whatever. I'm out of here."

I shook my head, not wanting to waste another breath on him as I left the table and began to make my way back through the corridors towards the locker room. There was no point arguing with John about the bet anymore, not now. Not when I didn't even know if I cared enough anymore to even continue with it.