Lacey's POV

Mickie and Eve flanked me as I headed for Vince's office. Now as I walked through the backstage hallways, I received looks of pity. Looks that clearly told me this entire backstage family was on my side. She had stabbed us all in the back now, not just me, and by badmouthing the company, she now lost an entire family and made herself an enemy.

"This isn't right." Eve said. That's all she would, or could, say. Mickie shook her head. We were supposed to be preparing for our match tonight at the Royal Rumble, but instead I had to deal with this issue. This time at Vince's door, I knocked twice before I let myself in. Being in his office almost felt like a second home if the locker room was my first one.

"Lacey." Vince gave me a nod and gave a nod to Mickie and Eve as well. "I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that we have serious repercussions planned for Candice. Unfortunately for her, it seems as if she burned her bridges with the WWE."

"What kind of repercussions?" I asked, leaning forward in my seat.

"Well-" Suddenly, the door opened rather roughly and we all turned to look. A nervous looking backstage worker popped her head in the door.

"Sir, Candice is back on with CNN right now." Vince frowned and stood up quickly, going to turn on the TV in his office and quickly flipping through the channels for CNN. Once again, her face was front and center on the screen, still complete with a martyr expression.

"Candice, can you tell us more about the dirty antics the WWE pulls? What are the working conditions like?"

"It's almost impossible sometimes, and I think they only have themselves to blame as for the reason why so many wrestlers die young. They overwork all of the employees, and sometimes I worry for my own personal safety. There was a female referee a while back who pressed charges against Vince McMahone for sexual harassment, but the WWE pays and threatens you to keep you silent as I'm sure they'll try to do with me." I watched as Vince's face grew redder and redder, and it didn't take long before he stormed out of his office. Eve, Mickie, and I exchanged looks.

"I didn't know she had a side like this. She was my friend." Mickie murmured darkly.

"Candice, what about your former coworkers, what is the atmosphere like?"

"It depends on who you are. There's a lot of politics backstage and it's a dog-eat-dog world. The people also just are not the best. For example, tonight is their January PPV and Lacey Reyes is in a match for the title, and I can assure you it's because her and Randy Orton, one of the top guys, are practically dating. Not only that, but she also has John Cena eating out of the palm of her hand." I felt my eyes widen.

"How so?"

"She's keeping her relationship with Randy secret and stringing John Cena along. I'm sure John or Randy are the reason for her being in the match and more than likely winning it. Just one example on how backstage politics work." The show went to commercial break. I felt like I was going to be sick. Eve and Mickie both looked furious.

"How can she just say things like that? She's ridiculous!" Eve exclaimed.

"She needs to be taught a lesson." Mickie agreed before turning to me. "Lace, I'm so sorry you have to go through this. Your business with Randy is your business, but throwing John in there is just a low move of her. You earned this title tonight." Eve nodded to her words, though they were making me sicker.

"I need to find Vince," I mumbled, rushing out of the office. Vince was nowhere to be found, but I did see John staring at me from a group of wrestlers gathered around a monitor. He held my gaze. I ripped my eyes away and continued my search for Vince.

There was no way I could win tonight. This would be my 7th reign; I would be tied with Trish Stratus tonight and everything Candice said would seem like the truth. I didn't want to win when it looked like I had everything handed to me. My panic was growing the longer it took me to find Vince, until I ran into Stephanie.

"Stephanie, I need to talk to you." I finally gave in.

"Oh trust me, I can assure you I dislike Candice Michelle just as much as you do and she will pay-"

"No, Steph, about tonight." I interrupted impatiently. Stephanie frowned. "I can't win tonight. I can't."

"What? Why?" She asked me, baffled.

"I can't accept a win now that she said those things! I can't be tied with Trish Stratus, I can't. Not tonight. Please, Stephanie, let me put over Mickie or Eve and just let me win the title some other time, okay?"

"Absolutely not!" We both turned to see Vince marching over to us with a fire in his eyes. "That bitch. She thinks you're going to win the title, well, dammit you're gonna win it and shove that win in her face. You're going to gloat on TV because you deserve it, and we're going to show all the media and news that they can shove it." Vince marched away, grumbling under his breath. Stephanie waited and watched me as I breathed in and out.

"I can't take much more of this, Stephanie. This is…this is unreal."

"It'll be over soon, I promise you that. You don't mess with a McMahon. Now, go get ready for your match." I nodded reluctantly, walking with my head down to the locker room.

"Lacey." I stopped walking, not bothering to look behind me at Randy.

"What, Randy. What do you want to know?" I turned around slowly, my voice sounding feeble. He was frowning in concern.

"Are you stringing John along?"

"No." My voice was almost inaudible, but we were far enough away from the chaos and were the only people in this hallway. He looked relieved and was walking closer. "But, Randy, that night I told you I roomed with Mickie…I roomed with, John." I forced it out, and once I admitted it, a little bit of the weight lifted from my shoulders, until I saw Randy's face. "But we didn't do anything, I swear. You can ask John…" I trailed off lamely and Randy continued staring at me silently. "He asked me to give him and me a try. And I should've said no, Randy, but I didn't say yes. I just…I didn't know what you and I…what we even had." I waited for his answer, but the hurt was gone from his face and he stood neutral before me.

"And that's all?"

"He gave me earrings last Monday…but I-…I threw them out the window." I admitted. Randy chuckled and crossed his arms. He looked down at the ground, his expressions changing as if he couldn't believe anything anymore.

"How did Candice know all of that then?"

"Not everyone in the Diva's locker room is a fan of me, Randy." I pointed out. It wouldn't surprise me at all if one of Candice's friends had caught sight of me with John recently. Randy sighed heavily.

"This has been a helluva year so far." He commented, shaking his head. He finally uncrossed his arms before he pulled me close to him into a hug. "Go change. You're winning the big 7 tonight." I smiled, not because of his words, but because of the warmth I felt. His head was resting on top of mine, but the moment was cut short when he pulled away and patted my shoulder before walking away.

And I still wasn't sure what we had.

"Okay, and right after I toss Mickie out of the ring, you'll run at me, do the crucifix and get the pin." Eve just came up with the finish of our match. Mickie nodded in approval and I smiled and nodded too.

"Sounds like a plan." I agreed, and we shared a hug. "I'll see you girls in 25 minutes." I walked away, trying to find Randy. Just as I rounded the corner on my way to the men's locker room, I found John, stretching in the hallway. He looked up and we stared at each other.

"You could have just told me." He finally said, standing up. He waited for my response, but I didn't necessarily have one.

"I don't know what to tell you, John, because I don't even know what Randy and I have."

"Then are you telling me I still have a chance?" I hesitated. "Because I don't know what the hell you want anymore." There was a part of me that wanted to claim that I didn't know either, but I did. I'd known it for the longest time now that I'd just be outright lying to myself if I said any different.

"I care about Randy, John." He stood there motionless after I spoke before he swallowed and tipped his hat and readjusted it on his head.

"That's all you had to say." John murmured and turned away. I watched him walk away, and a voice grew inside me.

"I just…I left you hanging because…" He stopped walking but didn't turn. "Because I do remember those times, John. I remember how you made laugh, how you helped me understand wrestling because I was just a Diva Search winner that didn't know anything and nobody gave me a chance but you. And maybe if this was still 2006, I would've said yes in a heartbeat. But we don't fit anymore. With Randy…it's just there. We help each other. Life's a little bit more bearable with him." John glanced at me over his shoulder.

"I understand, Lacey. I just missed my chance. But you deserve to be happy with him. He can say he's always had your back. I haven't." With that he continued on his walk, and although I knew he was hurt, I could watch him walk away. When I turned, Randy was standing behind me, leaning against the wall. I looked at him and knew he had heard everything and waited for his response. He walked forward and stood right in front of me before he gentle reached out and grabbed the necklace between his fingers.

"With you…life's not only a little bit more bearable, it's there." He murmured, before he let go of the necklace and looked at me with a vivid stare. "The life that you've given is something I never thought I'd feel again." There was no way I could respond with the right words to that. Without being able to help myself, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him. He held me, and kissed the top of my head. We stayed like that in our own bliss for a good amount of time before he let go and watched me walk to the gorilla position. He had a match to get ready for.

As we waited to go out, my mind was a little bit clearer of the avalanche of trouble I had been buried under. My head was out of the snow and I could breathe. I imagined myself in Candice's position with her in my spot, about to win her 7th title reign and smirked. This win would drive her crazy, even if she pretended that it didn't. I looked to Mickie and Eve and smiled widely, beyond ready to show everyone why I deserved to be the face of the women's division.

Randy's POV

"And here it is, Eve just tossed Mickie out to ringside and-oh my! Lacey just hit a crucifix-cover for the women's championship, 2, 3!"

"She did it! She got her redemption, Michael!"

"Indeed she did, Lacey Reyes was forced to relinquish her title and now in this ultimate story of vengeance, of right and wrong, Lacey Reyes has prevailed!" I watched the referee hand Lacey the women's title and smiled at her glimmering eyes.

"Lacey had tied the legendary Trish Stratus with her 7th title win!" Michael added even more drama from fact as the crowd cheered loudly. Mickie and Eve got to their feet and rushed to hug Lacey, with the three of them heading to the back together. I left the men's locker room and hurried down the hallways to meet her. I could hear the applause of Vince and the agents and waited patiently for her to get to me. Her eyes were misty as she ran into my arms, hugging the title to her chest. I pulled back to look at her and smiled.

"You did it." I praised her and she beamed. I could feel plenty of eyes on us, but I no longer cared if anyone knew that we cared about each other. In one swift movement, I lifted her off of her feet and pressed my lips against hers. She was absolutely stunned when I put her back on the ground and I prepared for my entrance next against Sheamus.

As I walked out through the curtain, my mind fast forwarded to the upcoming events. After tonight we'd only have the Elimination Chamber and then WrestleMania. The Elimination chamber in a few weeks was in my home town. I had to fight a smile from forming as I entered the ring, excited by the possibility that Lacey could be meeting my family soon.