The show in Raleigh was intense to say the least. Still reeling from the earlier rejection, Stu Bennett was in a major huff. He had taken his sulking and pouting into his Wade Barrett character and it showed. Joey knew him and knew him well and she expected as much. On the other hand, was the action from her boyfriend. She had never seen Heath that intense in the ring. He was focused and determined and wrestled with an aggression she had never seen before. It was almost too much and he barely acknowledged her or the other members of The Corre. All night she and PJ shot each other puzzled looks but shrugged it off after their victory. They made their way to the back and Heath marched straight to the showers. While waiting for him, Joey ended up in a conversation with Vickie Guererro. 20 or so minutes later, Joey found PJ gathering the last of his bags.

"Great match tonight, I am beat!"

He smiled at her.

"Me too. I can't wait to crash. Was gonna give Barb a call but I think I'll eat first. Want to grab a bite?" he asked.

"Sure. Is Heath ready?"

PJ frowned.

"I thought you knew already. He left."

"Left? When?"

"A few minutes ago."

"No, I didn't know that. He didn't tell me but did he say where he was going?"

He shrugged.

"No. Probably back to the hotel. He was being pretty weird tonight, even more weird than usual."

Joey nodded and agreed to have dinner with her friend. She and PJ had dinner at a Bahama Breeze, a restaurant PJ had favorited in Tampa Bay. The food was delicious but between her conversation with Stu earlier and Heath's strange behavior, she wasn't in the mood to eat. She picked at her food as PJ chatted away on his cell phone with his girlfriend who was wrestling on the RAW brand. An hour or so later, PJ paid the bill and they went back to their hotel. Joey let herself into the king sized suite she was sharing with her boyfriend.

"Babe, you here?" she called out.

The room was quiet and dark but she could see the figure lying in the bed. The light from the street lamps cast a glow into the room. He was lying on his back, shirtless, blankets covering him from the waist down. His hands were folded behind his head and upon further inspection, she saw that his eyes were open.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes and turned on one of the lights, plopping down on the bed beside him.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? This is our room."

He wouldn't look at her.

"We booked it together but I'm surprised to see you here."

She frowned.

"You're being extra weird tonight. What's going on?"

"Where have you been?" he ignored her comment and question.

"PJ wanted to get something to eat so we found a BB's."

"Sounds nice," he said flatly.

"I was waiting for you to get out of the shower but you must have gotten past me when Vickie was talking to me. I was hoping you would join us."

"I wasn't hungry."

"Are you okay?"

He shook his head.

"Not really.

"Are you sick?"

"You could say that."

"Anything I could do to help?"

She smiled and crawled over closer to him, kissing down his bare arm.

"Joey, don't," he commanded, his Southern accent thick and forceful.

"Heath…"

"What?"

"Something is wrong. Talk to me, baby. Did something happen in the match tonight?"

"Joey, you and me are honest with each other, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel like you can talk to me, tell me stuff?"

"Of course."

He finally looked right at her.

"Do you have something to tell me?"

Joey bit her lip. For a minute she thought he was onto her with the whole Stu thing. Nothing had happened of course but she knew if she told Heath he would probably worry unnecessarily now that Stu and Jackie were officially broken up. Some things were better off left unsaid and since he hadn't seemed to notice her talking to her ex, she figured what he didn't know would not hurt him.

"No," she replied innocently. "Why?"

Heath just laughed sarcastically and shook his head.

"Whatever, Joey."

"What?"

"You know something, I just don't get you. How do you do it?"

"Heath, you are talking in circles. What in the world is going on?"

"I don't get a lot of things. I don't get how you can let someone else use you. I don't get how you can just use me. I don't get how you can go sneak off and be with him and then basically look in my face and lie about it."

She closed her eyes. He was angry. And he knew about Stu. She had denied it to protect his feelings but was instantly regretting her decision.

"I can explain…"

"So now you want to explain?"

"I did see Stu today."

"No shit," he spat.

"It's not what you think. He told me he wanted to talk to me so we talked."

"And?"

She took a deep breath.

"He left his wife. Stu and Jackie are getting divorced for real this time. He showed me a brochure of his new apartment and all these legal papers. He, um…he also told me that he loved me and that he missed me and that he was sorry and wanted me back."

Heath sucked in a breath. He knew it!

"Well, I guess you're happy now. That's what you wanted."

She made a face.

"What are you talking about? How can you say that?"

"You've been cheating with the guy and nagging him to leave his Old Lady so you two can go do whatever and now after all this time you finally got your wish."

"I don't want to be with Stu."

"So now you're gonna look right in my face and tell a lie?"

"Heath, I am not lying."

"He used you, Joey. You were nothing but a piece of ass to fill a lonely bed on the road. He lied to you. He almost got you fired. He made you look like a whore, like a fool in front of everyone. And as if none of that was bad enough, he beat your ass. After all that, he shows you a couple of apartments and you just go running back. Are you serious?"

"Heath…"

"How stupid can you be? Is the dick that good?"

"Heath!"

Joey had gone from a state of shock to being absolutely horrified.

"Oh don't sit there like little Miss Innocent. I saw you with him. You lied to me."

"Fine," tears filled her eyes. "I did talk to him in the arena and privately backstage but I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get upset or think I was gonna go back to him. And besides, he did tell me all that and nothing happened."

"Nothing happened? Want to try again, Joey?"

"Heath, you are out of control!"

"No. I saw you talking to him by the ring and I got suspicious. Just to think, for a minute there I felt bad because I didn't trust you. But I followed you anyway and you know what I saw? I saw y'all standing all close and staring into each other's eyes. And then I heard him say he loves you and then he practically begged you to take him back. And I heard you say that you love him too and you've waited for that moment."

"And then?"

He sat up and shrugged his shoulders.

"What else is there? You think I was gonna stick around for the exciting conclusion? What was that, y'all getting it on in the locker room?"

"It wasn't like that."

"So you're gonna deny it now? I'm lying? I'm seeing shit?"

"No. It, it did happen. You saw and heard right but that wasn't all of it."

"Save it. I don't want to hear it.'"

"Just listen to me," she reached out to him.

"No, cause you're full of shit! You know what I think? I think you've wanted him all along. I think all that stuff you said about leaving him alone and being over him was a bunch of bullshit."

She bit her lip.

"So basically you think I've been lying to you this whole time?"

"Honestly I do."

"So what about everything with us the last few months?"

"What about it?"

"Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Damn, Joey. Does it mean anything to you? I don't think it does. I don't think it ever did. I think it was a joke."

"A joke?"

"You heard me. You were waiting on Stu's sorry ass but you were feeling sorry for yourself and needed something to pass the time away. You were bored and you were horny so you used me until you could have what you really wanted."

He was angry and hitting below the belt. She knew he meant what he was accusing her of and that in itself killed her.

"How dare you say that to me? And damn you for spitting on everything special we have ever shared. That is so messed up."

"I'm tired of this. I'm tired of lying and I am tired of being lied to. I am tired of being caught up in your game. And I am really tired of you."

"What are you saying?" her lip trembled.

"I'm saying I don't want to deal with this anymore and I'm not. I won't. I'm done, Joey. We're done."

"Heath!"

"I don't want to be with you and outside of the stuff with the Corre, I don't think we should talk either. I think you've been playing me this whole time and you're gonna end up sleeping with Stu again behind my back. And if for some miraculous reason that is not the case, then I caught you with my own eyes sneaking around talking to him and when I called you on it, you looked right at me and told a bold face lie. If it was no big deal, why did you feel you had to hide stuff from me? I can't deal with that. You and Stu have way too much history together and the whole thing is pretty shady. So go do whatever but do it on your own because I want out. I think you should go."

"You're breaking up with me?" she cried.

He sighed. He was hurt and angry but it still bothered him to see her cry. It always had.

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Joey."

"You're not being fair. This isn't right."

"Yeah? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't do this."

She swallowed hard.

"Because I don't love Stu. I, I love you and I think, no, I know that you love me too."

24 hours ago she would have been right and he would have been thrilled to hear her say it first but too much had happened.

"Well, you think wrong," he responded coldly.

She had never seen him that cruel.

"Heath…"

"Either you leave or I do. I'm not gonna sit here all night and do this with you, Joey."

His eyes said it all. Wiping her tears, she stood and wordlessly left their room. The short elevator ride down to the next floor where her sister was staying felt like forever. After a few knocks, Layla answered the door and was floored when her little sister collapsed in her arms in a sea of tears. Joey was devastated. She had waited and wished for the day when Stu would tell her that he loved her and that he had left his wife for good. Now that day had come and instead of bringing her happiness, it had only brought devastation. Stu didn't even matter anymore. The one she thought she loved had ruined things with that man she really did love.