A/N: Sorry this has taken a while, been having some serious writer's block. I hope it was worth the wait.

Thank you to: JenniferRayne, I Luv Hardy, Anis C-Bear and MesshaBlack for your reviews.

This chapter feels kind of forced to me and I don't know if it brings across the difficulty that the characters are feeling, but I did my best with it :)

"Matt..." Matt jolted awake and squinted a little until his brother's face came into focus. He rubbed at his eyes and sat up a little straighter, trying to ease the aches in his muscles from sleeping in the armchair next to the couch for so long. He looked at Jeff, letting out a sigh. "Hey." Jeff nodded, his eyes going to sleeping girl on the couch. Her right hand was in a heavy brace, her ring finger attached to her middle finger with surgical tape and the whole thing wrapped in a soft, navy brace to prevent her from moving it too much. Her left hand was wrapped in bandages where she had split and bloodied her knuckles. She had come round briefly when they had taken her to the hospital to get her hand seen to, but had had to be sedated almost immediately because of her reaction to her surroundings. Despite this, they had allowed Matt to bring her home, convinced that she had no serious injuries and just needed to sleep the sedatives off.

She'd been asleep for eighteen hours and counting. Some part of Jeff wondered if she were subconsciously forcing herself to stay asleep so that she didn't have to face whatever was torturing her. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair before looking at Matt again. "I just got a call from Shannon; apparently Claire, the girl who works in the grocery store, saw her driving away from her dad's house like a maniac."

"So she knows then."

"I knew we should have told her."

"It wasn't our place, Jeff."

"Bullshit. She's as much a part of this family as you and I and we don't keep secrets."

"Whatever goes on with Sevina and her father is nothing to do with us."

"You're wrong. We should have told her." The brothers fell silent, both looking at Sevina where she lay. Looking at her face now, relaxed in sleep, it was difficult to correlate it with the rage-filled creature they had seen in the gym. She had come so far, managed to turn it around and beat down the instinct that made her hit out, but now, as Jeff watched her sleeping face, he wondered if he had done more harm than good when he'd agreed to train her. He had gotten so involved with her that she never wanted to do anything to upset him and it was the same with Matt. They had stopped being someone she could come to when she was hurting and become another line of people she didn't want to bring down with her problems. In trying to protect them from what she was feeling, she had let it build up inside of her and then, seeing what her father had done, it set the bomb off.

"Go to bed, Matt. I'll keep an eye on her." Jeff spoke in a very quiet tone. Matt had sat up watching over Sevina all night and through the day and it seemed a lifetime since the party, rather than a mere day. Matt seemed reluctant to leave, but he couldn't deny the exhaustion that was running through his body, so he nodded and stood up, resting his hand on Jeff's shoulder briefly before moving past him and out of the door. Jeff sat down in the vacated armchair and just watched Sevina, though she wasn't moving. On some level he knew that it wasn't just the realisation of her father selling the house that had set her off. He'd known she was taking the news too well about Omega closing. He saw his mistake. He had encouraged her too much to get more and more involved in Omega, he had allowed her to centre her life around it when he should have tried to make her pursue the world outside of it a little more. He had always intended to get into the WWF one day and both he and Matt had known that they would have to close Omega when that happened. He had known when he met her, that eventually he would be leaving and still he'd let her get attached.

When he was around Sevina, he felt a kind of freedom, like all the things that had seemed difficult or impossible, were suddenly within his grasp. There was something about this girl that called out to him. He wouldn't say that he loved her, not yet at least, but there was definitely something there that made him need her, need to keep her in his life and it was that need that had led them here. As misplaced as this guilt and self-blame was, Jeff couldn't shake it out of his mind.

"Jeff?" Sevina's voice penetrated the silence, sounding hoarse and uncomfortable. Jeff had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't even realised she was stirring. He instantly moved to kneel beside the couch, leaning over her slightly and smoothing the hair back from her face with gentle fingers. "I'm here." She had not opened her eyes, but turned her face towards his hand slightly. Her mind kept replaying flashes of what had happened, but they were confusing. It was all a bit of a blur and nothing made sense, but then she remembered the key point; the For Sale sign up in front of her father's house and her eyes snapped open. They instantly found Jeff's and he saw the almost betrayal there. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to, but Matt felt it was best to wait until your dad told you himself."

Sevina said nothing, frowning at him for a long time, before slowly pushing herself into a sitting position, gasping as pain shot through her right hand. Only then did she notice the brace wrapped around it and flashes of the hospital entered her mind, making her shudder slightly. She hated hospitals. She stared at the brace, turning her hand over several times as she examined it, before looking at Jeff again. She just looked at him and he looked back, then he silently moved to sit beside her on the couch, noting how she flinched a little from him coming so close. He sighed and put his arms around her, drawing her into his chest and resting his chin on top of her hair. "Sevina, I'm sorry."

Still she said nothing. She frowned into his shirt, her fingers curling into the fabric and clinging to it as if by doing so she could keep him here, but she knew differently. She knew what was going to happen. He'd leave and they'd grow apart. He'd only be home maybe two days out of seven and that kind of gap was something they were both too young to be able to bridge. She knew this, but she still held tightly to him, keeping her face downcast so that he wouldn't see her expression. It didn't matter that he and Matt had kept the sale of the house from her. It didn't matter that her family were gone. Some part of her hand always known they'd leave in the end. All that mattered was that Matt and Jeff were her anchors, they kept her here, attached to solid ground and now...they were leaving.

She squeezed her eyes shut until they hurt, refusing to cry. She hated crying. Not because of any shame it brought, but because it never changed anything. It never helped. In his arms, Jeff felt her body tensing and releasing as she tried to fight off her reaction. He sighed and trailed his fingers lightly up and down her back, lost for what to do. He wanted to comfort her; he wanted to promise that everything would be alright. But, would it? They hadn't been dating for that long and whilst he adored her, he knew that trying to maintain a relationship whilst travelling would be near impossible. Maybe he should call it off now and save them both the heartache later. Even as he thought it, he rejected it. Something in him needed her. Needed to keep hold of her.

"Sevina, I know. I know this is all a lot to take in and I know it hurts, but I'm always going to be here for you. I'm always going to be around."

Sevina slowly lifted her head and looked at him. Her navy eyes were shining brightly out of her face, glittering with the whisper of unshed tears and Jeff knew she didn't believe him. She was so used to people running out on her, giving up on her, "I'm here, Vina. I'll always be here. If you ask me to stay, I will."

Shock coloured Sevina's expression and weakened her resolve so that a solitary tear escaped and trailed down her face. She moved with a swiftness that surprised Jeff, her injured hands clasping his face tightly and she looked at him with a blazing expression, talking through gritted teeth, her voice breaking at regular intervals. "No. Listen to me. That's not what I want. God...I just...Jeff you have worked so hard. You've put so much into this. I'm not...I won't be the reason you give it up. You have to do this. I need you to do this. You have so much that you have to give, so much that you have to do. You and Matt saved me. You pulled me back. This is meant to be the best moment of your life. Don't you dare even consider giving it up. Don't put that on my shoulders. Don't make me live with ruining this for you."

Jeff stared at her, then one of his hands moved to the back of her head, pulling her forwards, his mouth meeting hers in an almost desperate kiss. He could taste her tears, which were flowing in earnest now and he felt his heart contract painfully. She clung to him as if he might disappear at any moment, as if this were the last moment of her life and she might never get to touch him again. Jeff couldn't name it, but it felt like something clicked into place in his head in that instant and he held onto her like he would never let her go.

When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing a little harder than normal. Sevina rested her forehead against his and sighed softly, her warm breath hitting his lips as she whispered, "You have to do this for us both."

Jeff said nothing, just closed his eyes, his arms moving around her waist, pulling her into his lap and holding her against his chest. This was not going to be the end of them. They had something. He didn't know what it was, but it was something necessary, something he wasn't willing to give up on. They could figure this out. This didn't have to be the end of anything. Getting these contracts was supposed to be the ultimate high, the peak of what he and Matt had worked so hard to achieve and Sevina was right, it was meant to be the best moment of his life. He knew she'd never forgive herself if he let it be marred by these bad memories. Memories of moments that would probably be etched in his mind forever. Memories of a structure that had been so carefully reconstructed, only to be torn back down.

Neither moved for a long time and when they finally did it was only to lie down. Jeff lay with his back against the back of the couch, whilst Sevina's back rested against his chest and he wrapped her in his arms, wishing he could keep her there forever, keep her safe. They didn't sleep; they just lay there, watching the sun come up through the window, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a very difficult day. Matt and Jeff were leaving for Stamford, CT to sign their contracts. They'd be gone for a week as they went through all the standard procedures, figuring out the finer details of their official debut. They already knew that they were going to be introduced as a tag team once their training with Dory was over. The training itself was going to be intense and the schedule would be pretty unforgiving. It would mean that they were separated for long stretches of time, but Jeff knew that Sevina understood. She may not like it, but she understood.

This was their dream. All three of them. Wrestling, making it into the WWF, was the heights that they had all hoped to reach. Of course, Jeff and Matt had always thought Shannon would be with them at this point and neither had expected to have met Sevina or to have become so attached to her. Jeff wasn't the only one struggling with this. Matt didn't want to leave her, he worried about her almost constantly and liked to be able to keep an eye on her and know that she was alright. Her relationship with Matt was extremely close. They talked about everything; there were no subjects that were out of bounds. They could spend days in each other's company and not get sick of each other. Somehow, this crazy, angry teenager had come into their lives and completely tipped the balance. Something about her had wrapped itself around their hearts and made them want to protect her, help her, do anything that she needed them to do to keep her happy.

The sound of movement upstairs disturbed them both and they cast their eyes towards the ceiling. Jeff looked towards the clock and sighed, leaning his lips close to Sevina's ear, "It's almost time to go."

Sevina's eyes tightened and she twisted in Jeff's arms so that she was facing him. Her expression told him that she was trying to sound braver than she felt. She reached to brush the hair from his eyes. "I'll be here when you come back."

For some reason, her words wrenched at Jeff's heart and he felt the irrational desire to never move, never let her go, never leave. He knew he had to, he knew that staying wasn't an option, but he hated this. He hated how much it was hurting her. He kissed her with the same desperation that had been present the previous night, as if he might die if he stopped. He heard her gasp against his mouth, her slender fingers digging into his jaw slightly. His own hands were wrapped around her waist, his fingers pressing into her back a little too tightly, but she didn't complain.

A knock on the door caused them both to jolt slightly and whilst he was distracted, Sevina detached herself from his grasp and stood up. She swiped quickly at her eyes and opened the door to the family room, smiling a little at Matt. "Hey."

"Hey. You okay?" Matt's face was a picture of concern. Sevina nodded and then allowed him to draw her into something that resembled a bear hug. "You know I'm only ever a phone call away, right? I'll come running back if you need me." Sevina smiled, resting her head on his chest, letting herself be comforted by his familiarity. She spoke quietly, but knew that he'd hear it, "Thank you, Big Brother." Matt smiled and then looked past her to Jeff, who was slowly lifting himself from the couch. He nodded to him, not releasing his hold on Sevina. "Alright, man?"

Jeff nodded and stretched, rubbing his hair distractedly. Matt knew that the whole situation was screwing with Jeff's head. Part of him was ecstatic at finally getting this opportunity, whilst the other part of him was devastated, knowing how hard this was on Sevina. "Well, we gotta be at the airport in an hour. You ready?"

Jeff nodded again and walked over. Sevina moved from Matt's arms, into Jeff's, standing at his side, with her arms around his waist as he dropped his arm around her shoulders. "Definitely." Jeff smiled and felt Sevina squeeze him encouragingly, causing his smile to grow a little. She wanted him to be happy, so he would be. She believed in him and his ability to make it, so he'd do it for them both. He reached out and hit his knuckles against Matt's "Let's go get those stars."