A/N: Thanks goes to BreakTheWalls for the wonderful review and for your constant support. Also thanks to all who have taken the time to read this. Onto number twenty, let me know what you think.

Chapter 20:

Road To All Out

Kenny

Her smile faded and was replaced with an expression of fear. She looked almost terrified to hear those words. The Elite was a close unit and nothing would get passed us as long as we stayed true to our values. Right now, in my mind, she was valuable to me. I wasn't going to give up on her, no matter what she said. There had to be a way to get through those walls that she had erected around herself.

"I'd like to think that's the truth. Adrian is relentless, always has been. He took advantage of my insecurities, molding me into the perfect vision of an obedient girlfriend. I put up with so much, the physical abuse was nothing compared to the mental abuse."

He had abused her! I had my suspicions about what had happened between them. No wonder she had anxiety as bad as she did. No wonder she always felt like she wasn't good enough. He had embedded that into her mind. If I hadn't liked the man before, I really didn't now.

She deserved so much more than what had been offered in the past. Closing her eyes, she shied away from my gaze and took a few steps back away from me. "I've got so much to worry about now. If Adrian wasn't enough, now I'm worried that my return to the ring will be a complete failure and on top of that...I have a seventeen year old sister who has no one left. I'm all she's got...I don't know how to handle all of this at once…"

Sobs of despair echoed inside my head. This time she wasn't holding back, everything was coming out. Her makeup was running down her cheeks and the whites of her eyes were starting to turn red. Closing the distance between us, I wrapped my arms around her tightly and ran a hand through her long hair, caressed her scalp.

I held her, not giving a damn that her tears were soaking my shirt. Rachel came the sliding glass door, she immediately took notice that her daughter was upset; but she smiled. It was a silent approval for me to be able to comfort Karina myself. "You've got such a big heart, Rina. Shay will be grateful to you for wanting to be there for her. As far as your return to the ring, that will be far from a failure. I'm pretty sure Brandi has big plans for you and I promise you, Adrian will not lay a single hand on you."

She shifted out of my arms to look at me fully. Her mascara had run black lines down her cheeks. The despair softened as she wiped away her tears and makeup with it. My hand hovered over her side. "You really can't promise that; but I appreciate you trying to protect me. No matter what happens down the road, I have to face this head on or I'm always going to be afraid to have feelings for someone else."

"You shouldn't be afraid to have emotions for someone. Those feelings could be a good thing, if you let them."

"You're right. I should be more optimistic, instead of dwelling in the past; when my future could possibly be standing right in front of me."

Those words were an accelerate to my heartbeat. The context of what she was saying was a basic confession of feelings for me, or at least that's how I viewed it. It wasn't something I was going to take lightly, nor was I going to push her for an explanation. "I should probably check on Shay." She said, giving me a smile as she turned away.

We stepped back into the house. The kitchen was empty of people; but when we turned to walk into the living room, Rachel and Henry were cuddled together on the couch watching a television show. "Where is Shay?" She asked.

"Upstairs, I believe…" Her mother answered, tiredly.

Without another word, she made her way to the spiral stairs. I took hold of her hand, stopping her from ascending. "I'm going to take off. I've got to prepare for this new match. I'll text you when I'm at the hotel, okay?" I told her. She stepped back down off the first step and stood before me.

"Thank you for coming here tonight." She replied, lacing her fingers through mine.

"You're welcome. I'll see you soon."

Her smile remained this time and it was perfect. Releasing my hand, I moved to walk towards the door. She continued to watch until I was fully outside. Once the door was closed, I let out the breath I had been holding. No matter how much I wanted to kiss her again, I had to play this slow. I didn't want to chase her away; because beyond all logic, she meant much more to me than I realized.

Karina

It was never easy for me to let him go; but this time, I had to. There was another person that required my attention. Hopefully she'd talk to me. I knew what it was like to loose someone you loved. The door to her new room was open and I could see her sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at the screen of her phone.

"Hey…" I said softly.

"Hey…" She answered, looking from the screen.

I cautiously made my way into the room and sat down beside her. My heart ached for her and the burning sensation in the corners of my eyes returned. "Do you want to talk? I'm available to listen." I offered, fumbling with my hands on my lap.

"I'm still just curious as to why you are so generous to me. You just met me."

"I told you before. You are blood, no matter how things happened. You are my sister and I'm going to do anything I can to help you move forward in life. I'm not going to lie...there will be rough patches; but I will be there for you."

I could see tears forming in her eyes, so I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned in, allowing me to comfort her the best way I could. "That guy you had here tonight seemed really nice. I could tell that he adores you."

"You think?"

"Absolutely, it was the same look you're step-dad gave your mom over dinner."

A smile tugged at me lips. This girl was a lot like me and not just in physical attributes either. Observant of other people and blind to one's self. There was much I'd love to show her and I wanted to give her the world. "Do you want to come with me to Chiago on Friday? You are welcome to watch the show from ringside." I asked, trying to talk about something a little different.

"I've never been on a plane before."

"Well then, I guess there is a first time for everything. Perhaps you could give me some ring gear ideas."

She eagerly agreed to the challenge. To be honest, I had no idea what kind of gear I wanted to wear. My gear from my days in WWE were no longer usable. I was lucky my boots were still in decent shape.

Giving her something to change into for sleep, I told her 'goodnight' and proceeded towards my own bedroom. My phone had been charging on my nightstand and when I picked it up, I had a text message waiting for me.

"Back at the hotel, I got an early flight back to Winnipeg in the morning. I'll see you in Chicago."

"Thank you for letting me know. Have a safe flight in the morning."

"Thank you. I'll talk to you soon. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Sitting my phone back down on the nightstand, I pushed the covers back. Thinking back to earlier on, I realized that my words may have been too much for Kenny to hear. There was no going back, they out in the open and now he knew my history with Adrian(PAC). However, there was a sense of relief that I no longer had to hide the past.

August 30th, 2019

It was now the day before All Out. Shay and I were walking through the airport. There had been a delay announced for our flight to Chicago. It didn't really matter as long as I got there before Check-In at our hotel closed. We came across a small cafe to sit down at. She ordered a medium iced caramel latte with a shot of espresso. That surprised me a little, considering that was my brother's favorite coffee beverage.

I ordered a mint chocolate iced coffee and an apple danish. We sat down at a small round table with our bags tucked neatly beside us. "Is there something wrong with me?" Shay asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't cried today. I just had to say goodbye to my mother a week ago."

"No, there is nothing wrong with you. There will be easier and harder ones. I still cry over Haden and he died five years ago; but I often don't anymore."

She took the first sip of her coffee, then took the straw and stirred the liquid a little more. Her long dark brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail with a few strains left to frame the sides of her face. It really did surprise me how much she looked like Haden and I, apparently we ended up with more of our father's genes than our mothers. "Is there anyone picking us up from the airport when we get there?" Shay asked, changing the subject.

"Nope, I got a rental car waiting for me."

"Okay, I thought maybe Kenny would be picking you up."

"No, he doesn't even know I'm coming into Chicago today."

There was a coy smile across her face that was almost in a teasing nature. It was nice to see her act normal around me. It had been a rough transition for her and we argued quite a bit at first. She claimed I was suffocating her, which thinking about it, I probably had been. As the days went by, she grew more curious about my life and the things I did for a living.

Sticking the last bite of my danish in my mouth, my phone lit up with an incoming video call from Hayley. Jayson, Landon and Hayley met Shay the second day she arrived at my home. Hayley had connected with her fairly quickly, which was no surprise. She was the sweetest person on the face of this earth.

"Hello, Hayley." I greeted, seeing her face on the screen of my phone.

"How's the travel so far?"

"There was a delay so we are sitting at the airport cafe at the moment."

I turned the phone so she could see Shay drinking her latte. She waved with a smile on her face. "It's going to be weird with you being in a completely different state as us." Hayley commented, frowning a little as she said it.

"I'm sure you will be just fine. We'll only be gone until Sunday night."

"I know; but we will be watching. You're going to kill it out there tomorrow night."

"I hope so. It feels different this time around."

Before Hayley could say anything else, Jayson snagged the phone from her. I giggled upon hearing her protest in the background. "Remember, you are Karina freaking Dawson and you are going to do an amazing job tomorrow night." He said, giving me a very poor pep talk. I laughed and agreed with him before saying goodbye. Our flight was now boarding.

Shay grabbed her bag and we were on our way to the gate. Giving the attendant our tickets, she waved us inside. I could tell that she was nervous, so I turned to link her arm with mine. "I promise, this will be a quick flight."

It was fun to watch her look out the window when we were finally in the air. The kid inside had come to the surface as she took pictures with her phone. I turned my attention to my own phone and the article that had popped up under my google search bar. 'Karina Dawson at All Out?' the headline read.

Of course, the person who wrote the article had no concrete evidence that I was appearing. It was just a rumor, though I was heavily wanted to be in the Casino Battle Royal by the fans according to the author. That information got me to smile. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to wrestle again.