*THank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much!
That evening Tayla, Lia, Leilani and Roman arrived at Full Sail University for Tayla's first NXT show. "How are you feeling?" asked Roman as she got ready backstage.
"Nervous," she said. "Really nervous. This is a lot different than performing at the training facility."
"You'll get past that nervousness," said Roman. "You just need to relax."
"No one is even going to know who I am," she said.
"But they will," said Roman. "Your job is to go out there and make a name for yourself. Let them know who Tayla Reigns is," he said with a smile.
"I plan to," she said. "Were you nervous your first time?"
"Of course everyone is nervous their first time but you can't let it take over because if you do you're going to make mistakes. That's the last thing you want to do. You don't want to blotch any moves or make a bad performance or everyone is going to think you don't belong here but you do. You definitely belong here. Do you know what moves you're going to use tonight?"
"Yeah," she said as she laced up her boots. "I have a list."
"Good," he said. "Entrance music?"
"Bill has some for me. I haven't heard it yet but he said I will like it."
"Good," he said, "well, we're going to let you finish getting ready. We'll be front row cheering you on. Tell Mommy good luck."
"Thanks, Lia and Leilani," she said as she kissed each of them. "Thanks, Ro," she said before she kissed his lips. "I love you."
"I love you too," he said before he walked out of her locker room.
Tayla was really nervous as she made her way to the curtain for her debut. She stood behind the curtain cracking her neck and stretching her legs. She was ready to wrestle but her stomach was filled with butterflies and her heart was racing. Her palms were wet from her sweat and she felt her legs go weak. She jogged in placed to strengthen them up and did some tuck jumps to wake them up. She continued to stretch as Bo Dallas made his way through the curtain. "Good luck, Tay," he said with a smile.
"Thanks," she said with a smile of her own.
Tayla stood at the curtain waiting for her music to cue. She jumped in place to shake the nervousness out of her. She heard the music blare out and she came through the curtain. She looked around the arena and saw there weren't nearly as many people there as she thought but she was still nervous. There was very little crowd reaction for her because no one knew who she was except that she was Roman's wife. She made her way down to the ring and Roman could see the nervousness was written on her face. He wanted her to relax. Tayla climbed the stairs and climbed into the ring. She walked around the ring and stood up on turnbuckles but still to very little reaction. She stood waiting for Paige. When Paige's music cued the crowd went crazy. She was definitely a fan favorite. Tayla watched her make her way to the ring and climb in. Paige did her thing before she walked over to the ref. The ref had the bell rung and Tayla locked up with Paige. Paige took the upper hand for quite a while and Tayla took a few bad bumps in the ring. The fans were cheering Paige on but as Tayla gained the upper hand Roman got a Tayla chant started throughout the arena. Tayla was throwing punches, doing drop kicks and anything she could think of. The more moves she did the more the crowd got behind her. She felt like she was home. Her nervousness went away and she suddenly felt like she had been doing this all her life. She caught Paige off guard with a version of the Superman punch followed by a spear that was just as intense as Roman's. Tayla covered Paige, "1," yelled the crowd as the ref's hand went down to the canvas, "2," they yelled, "3!" Tayla was in shock. The bell rang and she stood up. The ref took her hand and raised it in victory. Her first real match was a success and the crowd was suddenly behind her. Roman handed each of the girls to the security guard and climbed over the barrier.
He climbed the stairs and got into the ring with his wife. "Good job," he said as he gave her a hug followed by a kiss.
"Thanks," she said with a smile. The security guard walked the girls over to the ring and they each took one of them and celebrated in the ring before they got out and made their way to the back. Roman couldn't have been more proud of Tayla at that moment.
"Good match," said Bo with a smile as she walked passed him.
"Thanks, Bo," she said but Roman just glared at him telling him to back off. "You know I just beat the NXT Divas champion right?" she asked Roman.
"I know," he said, "that means you could be on your way to being the NXT divas champion."
"I hope," she said.
After the show Roman and Tayla went out to get something to eat with the girls. "You did awesome," said Roman.
"Thanks," she said. "I heard you get the Tayla chant going."
"Well, no one was really behind you so I had to do something."
"Yeah," she said, "but they were behind me at the end."
"Because you are amazing," he said, "I would have thought it was in your blood if I didn't know any better. You have natural talent."
"Thanks," she said. "Just imagine what are girls are going to be like. Think they're going to follow in our footsteps?"
"I don't know," he said eating a French fry. "That's one thing my dad always told me that it was always my choice on what I wanted to do and he would support me in anything I chose. You know this I was going to be a football player but then I chose wrestling. My dad wouldn't have cared either way. If Lia and Leilani choose to follow in our footsteps then they do if not it doesn't matter. I'll support them no matter what."
"Me too," said Tayla. "Roman, I want to tell you something."
"What?" he asked.
"Things have been so crazy the last couple days from us fighting about Bo to me beating up Natalia but the other day when I went to the grocery store something happened."
"What do you mean something happened?" he asked.
"I was walking the store and I felt like I was being followed except every time I turned around no one was there. I saw two men in hoodies and black walk toward the registers. I was so nervous I hurried to get finished, paid and left. When I got to the parking lot they were sitting out in their car watching me. When I pulled out of the parking lot they followed me. I tried to lose them but I couldn't. They followed me all the way to the front gate of our community. It was weird."
"What?" he asked. "Why are you just telling me now? Who was it?"
"Things have been crazy," she said. "I didn't get a chance and I don't know who it was. I couldn't tell but there were two of them."
"And this is why I didn't want to leave you alone," he said. "Did they say anything to you?"
"No," she said, "they just followed me."
"I wish you would have told me sooner," he said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine just scared a little," she said. "I think we should be okay because no one can really get into our community it's when I'm out that I'm worried about."
"Do you want a bodyguard?"
"No," she said, "I don't."
"Then what do you want, Tay? I can't have you going out by yourself with people following you. Was it Bray and Dean?"
"I don't know," she said. "I told you I don't know who it was."
"Did it look like them?"
"I couldn't tell," she said, "the only thing I was worried about was getting Lia and Leilani home safely."
"This is crazy," he said, "I don't even know what to do. I would feel better if you had a bodyguard or something."
"I don't want one that's too weird for me," she said. "I think I will be fine. It just happened that one day. It hasn't happened since."
"But it happened, Tay. It could happen again and next time you may not be so lucky. I would feel better if you didn't go out alone anywhere."
"Roman, after everything happened I promised myself that I would not let anything keep me from living my life normally and I'm not going to. I will not get a bodyguard. I will be fine."
"Tay, I'm just worried. I wish you would have told me sooner."
"I would have but you were too busy yelling at me about Bo and then getting hit on by our nanny. I didn't exactly get the time."
"I know but you should have told me days ago. I just don't believe all this. I want to know who it was. Bo Dallas probably had something to do with it."
"You don't know that," she said. "I don't think he did."
"You never know," said Roman, "there is just something about that guy. I don't trust him."
"You don't trust him because you're scared he's going to pull what Natalia pulled on you on me."
"True," he said. "But I have to be cautious. I don't trust anyone anymore."
"Ro, I will be fine. It only happened once. I doubt it will happen again. They were scared away by the guard at the gate."
"But that doesn't mean they can't find you at the performance center or anywhere else. Just be careful, Tay, and if anything does happen don't be afraid to spear anyone. I just don't believe this."
Tayla could tell that Roman was scared by the look on his face. "Trust me, Ro, I'll be fine. We're going to be okay."
"All right," he said. "I just worry about you. If anything happens to you or the girls I will never forgive myself for not being there."
"We will be okay," said Tayla, "I promise. Don't worry. They are not that crazy to pull it all over again."
"I just don't like it," he said, "maybe I should take some more time off."
"No," said Tayla, "you don't need to do that. Don't take any time off. Everything is going to be okay." She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. She was still spooked from being followed and everywhere she went she was worried that it would happen again. She didn't want to tell Roman but she didn't feel safe anywhere or anytime.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.