The mid-morning phone call that Ryland Crafton had received had come as quite the surprise. The ever growing distance between herself and her husband had reached its peak as the two lived like two random strangers passing by in the hall. But Josh had been on the other end of the line. It wasn't to see how her day was or to tell her that he loved her and was thinking of her. Not that she wanted or expected such a phone call. Instead it was a rushed conversation where he coldly informed her that he had left his iPad on the kitchen counter and needed her to bring it down to the FCW arena as soon as possible. Ryland had obliged, feeling emotionless except for the flutter in her heart when she thought about the very real possibility of running into Ted.

She parked her car and entered through the front. Josh was not in his office and she did not want to just leave the piece of electronic equipment lying around. So she waited for a few minutes before taking a walk in the hall. The corridors were unusually quiet so she headed for the main practice gym. Inside warming up alone in the ring was Ted. Ryland felt her heart stop. He was wearing gym shorts and sneakers, the sweat glistening from his toned and tanned exposed core. His eyes were filled with a determination that made Ryland feel warm all over. The ring was his life, his passion, what he had been born to do. He had lost it for a little while, mostly the product of his own wrongdoing. But now he was working harder than ever to get it all back. That was the old Ted, her childhood friend and now the man whom she was desperately in love with.

"Hi," she said softly, when he finally noticed her standing in the doorway.

Ted could barely contain his grin. It felt like he hadn't seen her in forever.

"Ry…"

He beckoned her to come to the ring and held the ropes for her to enter. She pulled the iPad, protected in its case, closer to her small frame. Their eyes met for a moment and after a few seconds of awkwardness passed, that familiar comfort sparked between them and after quickly looking around to make sure they were alone, their lips met for a few stolen kisses.

"I missed you so much," Ryland sighed eyes darting around, hating that they had to pull away so fast.

"Not half as much as I've missed you. It's been so long. God, you look so beautiful."

Ryland blushed.

"Thank you."

"What are you doing here?"

She motioned down to the case.

"Josh forgot this at home. He asked me to bring it."

"Oh," Ted said, disappointment evident in his deep Southern accent.

"I…"

Ted reached out and held one of her hands.

"It's okay. Look, I've been meaning to talk to you. I'm glad you're here. Ry, I have something to tell you."

She swallowed hard, almost afraid to ask, noting the serious look on his handsome face.

"What, what is it? Is everything alright?"

He took a deep breath.

"I did it. I finally did it, babe."

"Excuse me?"

"I ended things with Kris."

Ryland felt her knees buckle a little bit.

"What?"

"It's over. We're done."

"What? Ted, I don't understand…when?"

"A few nights ago. I, I just couldn't do it anymore. It's not right, living a lie like that. I was afraid cause I didn't want to hurt her but I couldn't keep living like that anymore. It's not fair to Kris, it's not fair to me…it's not fair to you."

"But Ted…"

"I told you I was going to end my marriage because it was the right thing to do. I did and it was. I did it for the right reasons and that's why I can live with my decision. It hurt…I'm hurt and I know Kris is hurting right now and that kills me, it really does. She's a good person. I care a lot about her, a part of me will always love her but I don't feel for her like a husband should feel for his wife. I'm not in love with her, not like I'm in love with you."

"Oh my God…"

"It, uh, it didn't go well as you can probably imagine. Kris took it pretty hard. She, um, she left…"

"Where did she go?"

Ted sighed.

"My parents' place. I told her it was probably best that she just go back to Mississippi but obviously she thought different."

Ryland closed her eyes. Where else would the poor girl go? She really had nowhere else to turn. She didn't have family or friends of her own in Florida. Her whole world had just been ripped from underneath her.

"Poor girl. Wow, Ted, I…I just don't know what to say, what to do…"

"Just say you'll stick with the plan and that you'll be with me. Ry, you know how I feel about you. I didn't just end my marriage for you or for us, I did it because it was the right thing to do, cause I wasn't happy anymore. I am sorry Kris is so hurt but I have no regrets."

The look in his eyes was one filled with hope and love, a special love intended just for Ryland. It melted her to her core as the feeling was more than mutual. She couldn't help but kiss him again, sighing deeply as she finally pulled away.

"Oh Ted, I get so worried about you sometimes. Are you sure you're okay?"

He nodded.

"I'm okay. It's all gonna be alright, Ry, you'll see. Honestly, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders."

She tenderly rubbed circles on his back.

"So this is all real, isn't it?"

"It's real," he said softly, staring down into her eyes. "It's very real, babe."

"I'm proud of you. I can't imagine what poor Kris is going through and my heart goes out to her but you did what you had to do. That must have been so hard for you."

She went to reach out for him again but as their bodies brushed against each other, they heard the double doors of the gym open. Reflexes kicking in, they quickly straightened up and pulled away from each other. Both of their hearts dropped when they saw that it was Josh. His eyes narrowed and darkened as his body visibly tensed.

"I thought I would find you here," Josh's voice took a slightly sharper tone. "Can't say the same for you, Ryland."

Ryland nervously cleared her throat.

"I, I was looking for you. I checked your office and didn't find you. Someone told me you'd be here and you weren't, of course, and I ran into Ted and we were just talking."

Her words were loud and falling all over each other. She hated lying and was terrible at it.

"Yeah," Ted, muttered uneasily.

Josh pulled himself together.

"I see. Anyway, Ted, I was speaking to Virgil and he had an idea for your match on the upcoming show. He was thinking of changing things up a bit."

"Really?"

"Yes. Your signature move is Dream Street. Now you're facing Jinder Mahal and you're scheduled to win but Virgil had some things planned and he wanted me to make sure you were physically up to it all."

Ted's eyes lit up. He had been performing much better in the ring as of late and in turn, his push had increased. His father had been more than pleased with his skills and there had been a nice but unfamiliar calm in their relationship, a dynamic only upset when the elder DiBiase's beloved daughter in law had shown up on his doorstep sobbing hysterically in the middle of the night. Ted Jr. had been back in the proverbial dog house ever since.

"Yeah man. That sounds cool. Whatever you have to do. I had been thinking about some stuff in my head. I put this match together and I wanted to take it old school with a lot of elbow drops and have him come at me with a rebound clothesline and I counter. Jinder this week would be perfect. He's a good worker. I'll talk to him and we could end it with a sitout spine buster and…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ted, look, I think you're getting way ahead of yourself. But I don't think that's quite what Virgil or your father had in mind."

Ted bit his lip.

"Right," he answered tersely.

Josh sensed his hostility. He retorted, the tense conversation focused on wrestling but the undertone of months ago lingered heavily in the air.

"Listen, I am not a producer or a writer and I don't work in Creative. Those decisions are not mine to make. I'm a doctor. Take up the match making plans with the right people. I have nothing to do with it but a word to the wise, if I were you, I'd lay low and take direction instead of making waves."

Ryland sucked in a breath, fearing a confrontation as fire burned in Ted's eyes.

"Who the hell do you think you are, man?"

"Please…" Ryland took another step in between them.

Josh backed away.

"I'll see you later for workouts," he said before turning to his wife. "Thank you for coming all this way to bring this to me. I apologize for the trouble."

His voice was cool and sarcastic.

"It was no trouble at all," Ryland looked right at him.

Josh took the case from her and turned to leave the two alone. Ryland could only breathe again when the doors closed behind him.

"Oh my God. That was so close. But I don't think he saw or heard anything."

"I guess not," Ted looked down.

"I, I should go."

Her hand briefly grazed his. Ted just shook his head.

"Yeah. I, um, I guess I'll see you at the motel."

Ryland turned and stopped. She could clearly see that he was upset.

"What was that for? Listen, I know Josh was being a real jerk back there but you can't let it get to you."

"Josh can be a real jerk but it's not him who is getting to me, Ry."

"I don't get it…"

"Dammitt, I thought we talked about this. I thought we made a pact. Neither one of was happy and we were supposed to change our situations. I did. It was hard. It was scary. It sucked. I hurt somebody I care about and it's probably gonna be consequences but I did what I had to do. And you…I see you playing the same old game, doing nothing."

"Ted, please don't, okay? Look, it's complicated…"

"And you think I don't know that?" he spat.

"No, I…"

"I manned up. I broke things off with my wife."

"I know you did and I told you that I am going to do the same with Josh."

"I don't believe you," he cut her off.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't think you ever had the intention to leave Josh. And I don't know if it's because it sounded like a good idea at the time or if you were just blowing smoke up my ass or if you're just lying to yourself."

"Ted…"

She tried to touched him but he pulled away,

"You said you had to go and I think you should. I've got work to do."

She opened up her mouth to speak but no words came out. What could she say? What could she do? And they were in a dangerous position just begging to be caught. It was neither the time nor place but that didn't stop the ache in her heart. Simply nodding and fighting back tears, she complied with his request and left. Seeing him like that, knowing he had ended things with his wife, the tension with Josh and now trying to find the right time to end her own marriage was all too much. It was more complicated than anyone knew.