A/N: Happy 2020, y'all!

The arrival of nightfall was a relief.

As it so happened, the day had been as tense as it was long. The second the sky went dark, Renesa used that excuse to retreat to bed, to not have to be caught in the same room as Seth with nothing new to say. They had silently passed by each other that day more times than she cared to admit, but what else was there to discuss? Seth was adamant that Renesa needed to get rid of her apartment, and she was equally as adamant that it was too soon. Clearly, they had reached an impasse.

Seth was in the kitchen, fiddling with dishes in the cabinets, when Renesa slipped down the hall and into the bathroom. When her teeth were brushed and flossed and her skincare regimen was followed, she crawled into bed and brought the covers up and over her head, listening to the tinkle of Kevin's collar as he ran into the bedroom, doing whatever it was he did. He was not in her line of sight and she didn't have the energy to raise her head and check. It was too dark anyway. She had already turned the bedroom light out, leaving only the television playing.

She was alone no more than ten minutes before Seth walked in. He was abrupt, snapping his fingers twice. "Out, Kev. Skedaddle."

In a single swift action, his intentions became clear. Seth was after only one thing. Kevin was never barred from their room unless Seth expected sex. It was his thing. He didn't want his dog in the room while he was getting it on, which was partly understandable to Renesa. It still made her laugh. She, again, heard the jingle of Kevin's collar as he crossed the room. Then, the bedroom door clicked shut. Seth took a deep breath and Renesa closed her eyes even though she wasn't actually going to sleep.

Instead, she listened to the friction of clothing against skin as Seth undressed himself. It was a matter of seconds before the bed dipped and he slid in beside her. When Renesa opened her eyes to peek, he was sitting with his back against the headboard, staring straight ahead. It wasn't until she closed her eyes and shifted in bed that he turned off the television altogether. The remote clacked when he sat it on the nightstand, then the bed wobbled left to right as Seth lowered beneath the covers. Renesa smiled into the empty darkness, wondering how long it would take him to make a move.

As it turned out, he lasted only about fifteen seconds. He turned on his side so they were facing each other and slid his hand down her body, stopping when his fingers bumped her hip bone. The only light they had was the faint, yellow bursts of moonlight bouncing off the walls. Rubbing his entire palm over her hip, Seth scooted in closer. Softly, he whispered, "Baby..."

"What?"

"Kiss me."

"Kiss you? Why?" Renesa gaped, although he couldn't make out her shocked expression for himself. "You're not even speaking to me right now. You literally ignored me all day."

"I did not."

"Name one thing you talked to me about since breakfast this morning," she challenged.

"I wasn't not talking," he said. "I just didn't know what else to say. Let's not even go there right now."

"We have to go there sometime."

"Not tonight," he pleaded. "Tomorrow."

Renesa rolled onto her back. "Fine. Tomorrow."

She raised her hips in the air, a matter of inches off the mattress, and shoved her sweatpants and panties down together in a single messy heap. She snatched them from under the covers and tossed them over the side of the bed. Then, she sat straight up and worked her shirt over her head, reaching around to unsnap her own bra. She let them both topple to the floor and lay back flat, parting her legs. To signal to Seth that she was ready, Renesa felt around until she found his hand. She placed it on her pelvis.

Seth took the reins and dragged his fingertips down, lower, until he reached her opening. Using three fingers, he poked inside while his lips found her neck. He nibbled at her skin, twirling his fingers inside of her with increasing rapidity. Renesa parted her lips and closed her eyes again, holding onto Seth's arm with one hand. She squeezed his biceps and forced her chin higher into the air to give him better access to her neck. He stuck out his tongue and ran it along her neck, pausing for small slurps before returning to soft kisses.

Renesa moved her hand from his arm to his wrist, guiding the hand that roamed inside of her. She slipped her middle and index fingers into the fray with his, letting them mingle together. They took turns rubbing at her, their digits exchanging fluids and warmth. She sighed, feeling another release that coated their fingers. Seth got greedy and tried to push her hand away, but she wasn't having it. Using the wetness from her body, Renesa trailed her fingers higher, between her vaginal lips, reaching her clitoris.

She circled it slowly, her back arching with arousal. Seth's fingers soon followed, struggling to catch up, then he swatted her hand out of the way entirely as he took over. He kissed a trail up her neck and chin, forcing his lips upon her when he reached her mouth. Renesa kissed him back and moaned, her legs settling into a steady tremble as he added pressure to his rubs. She felt another stream of wetness trickle out of her and dribble around the curve of her thighs. That served only as a momentary distraction, leaving her mind immediately when Seth worked his tongue into her mouth.

Renesa moved her fingers back inside of herself and twirled them around while Seth did his part on the outside, swiping from left to right against her nub. His touch was soft but efficient, gentle but not without pressure. Naturally, Renesa's legs fell wider apart the higher she climbed, and the lower half of her body began jerking against the bed. Her facial features bunched up together and her mouth fell open. She was sure her expression wasn't pretty, but she also didn't care. Seth's fingers felt so good that all she could concern herself with was the impending high.

The double arousal of her own fingers inside her body, while Seth's worked on her from above, brought her near her breaking point. She fell into involuntary twitches, inadvertently dashing away from Seth's fingers when all she wanted was to move closer, to feel them more firmly against her. Seth knew she couldn't help her abrupt movements, so his hand followed her wherever she went, picking up speed with swipes and rubs until her orgasm hit like a lit line of gasoline. It was set off all at once before bursting into flames. Renesa's fingers stilled on the inside and her lips fell out of their kiss as she cried out for Seth. He kissed her cheek and pressed down on her clitoris, wiggling his fingers in all directions until Renesa released a second time.

She gasped, spilling out over his hand and dripping onto the sheets below. She heaved forward, bringing her head a good inch or two off the pillow as she struggled to catch her breath. As the orgasm started to fade, she pulled out of her body, leading her moistened digits to Seth's mouth. He parted his lips, caught onto her wrist, and sucked each of her fingers clean. Then he opened up her hand and licked the drippings on her palm, kissing all over the span of it. He led that same hand down to his penis, waiting for Renesa to wrap her fingers around him.

Without a need for direction, she worked her hand over him, enjoying the mangled groans that started low in Seth's throat before coming to meet her in the open air. She sat up and shoved him onto his back, straddling his legs between each of hers. The hair on his legs tickled her smooth ones, but she enjoyed the sensation, the delicious juxtaposition. Renesa squeezed Seth's thigh and crawled lower, lower still, until her face hovered just above his manhood. She licked her lips, anticipating the taste of him, and took his tip into her mouth.

His reaction was big and bold, a shaky shouting of her name echoing off the walls as she sank down deeper, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could. She could never fit all of him into her mouth without her gag reflex kicking in, but she came fairly close. About three-quarters of the way. For fun, she ran her fingers through his pubic hair. He didn't have much since he trimmed regularly, but the hair that was there turned her on for reasons even she couldn't explain. She used her fingernails to scratch gingerly at the nearby patches of hair, sliding her mouth back up the length of his penis to the tip.

She swirled her tongue around as she went, getting a kick out of how much he squirmed beneath her. The time for play, however, was over. Renesa placed one hand at the base of his penis and the other on his thigh to steady herself. She pulled away entirely and worked up some saliva in her mouth, forcing it out between puckered lips and allowing it to drip all over Seth. She repeated the process two or three times until she was sure he was coated. Using her hand, she spread her spit evenly until he was as wet as he could possibly be without actually being inside of her. Then, she caught him in her mouth again and set to work.

Holding him in place, she bobbed up and down, picking up speed while simultaneously alternating for his pleasure, giving him a mixture of fast and slow sucking. He seemed to like the variation. Each time Renesa made a smacking sound, which was basically whenever a little air got caught in the space between her lips and his manhood, he called out. He loved it when she blew him, but even more when he could hear the distinct smacks and slurps that went along with it. It was likely his favorite thing they did together, possibly even more than standard sex. She tightened her lips and suctioned to him, squeezing harder at his base. Only when he cried out in pain did she realize that, in her eagerness, she had gotten too teethy.

Sometimes, Renesa got a little too caught up in the moment. Rubbing Seth's leg as a silent apology, she wrapped her lips back around her teeth, shielding their sharpness from him. His breathing heightened, and when she could tell he was almost at his breaking point, Renesa began stroking the part of him encircled by her hand, still sucking him off without missing a beat. Her head bobbed and weaved as spit puddled at the corners of her mouth, and when her tongue slurped him in just the right way, his body jolted twice before he called out her name, shooting into her mouth. Renesa held him still, closing her lips as she accepted his fluids.

When he was finished actively trickling into her mouth, she moved around, licking and kissing until she was mostly sure she had lapped up all of his excretions. One last time, she worked her lips around his solid member and took as much of him into her mouth as she could, moving her head slowly upward to clean off the length of him until, at last, he slipped out from between her parted lips. If that hadn't done the trick, she didn't know what else would. Renesa kissed the tip of him and crawled up his body, stopping when her head was directly above his.

Much like they had shared the taste of her earlier, she shared a taste of Seth with himself, kissing him with lips that were still very much coated with his juices. He kissed her back, sliding his hand around the back of her neck to steady her. When they pulled apart, gasping, he flicked his tongue against her lips, slurping any remaining remnants of themselves. She sucked in sharply when he cupped her between the legs. He eased his fingers back inside of her body and jetted them in and out a few times, readying her for his entry. Knowing the drill, Renesa rolled back onto her left side, facing the wall. It was one of their favorite sexual positions.

Seth rolled to a stop directly behind her, the front of his body pressing into her back. His erection dug readily into her upper thigh. He lifted her right leg and jammed his leg in between to create some space, then shoved his fingers into her vagina again, mentally registering where he needed to be, since there was no light to direct him. Giving himself a couple of good tugs, Seth pushed only the tip of himself up to her opening, sliding just barely inside. He kissed the back of her neck and moved his hand around front, flicking her stub. She moaned and shivered, and he kept fingers on her while pushing more of himself into her body.

He moved slowly, allowing her body to make the adjustments it needed. The first time they ever had sex together, her body had had a hard time accepting his size, but now that she was used to him, it didn't take longer than a matter of seconds for her to stretch to his width, to make room for him in every way. He let his fingers work their magic, pressing a line of kisses along her right shoulder as he inched his way farther inside. She grabbed his hand and guided him as he fingered her, sighing with pleasure when he sank the rest of the way into her. Slowing his fingers, he put all of his focus into thrusting.

Renesa took over with her fingers, rubbing herself in just the right spot at the same time that Seth pulled back, nearly all the way out of her. He kissed the skin behind her right ear and slammed back into her, his pelvis snapping into Renesa's butt, the sound reverberating through the room. Kevin whined and pawed at the door; they both ignored him. Seth kept an even rhythm but stuck with more of the same, retracting almost completely out of Renesa before jamming all of himself back into her at once. Her reaction each time was astounding.

He flinched every time she screamed, taking her thigh and lifting it higher in the air. After six deep and sudden thrusts, he went hard, holding her leg steady as he did a series of short, powerful thrusts. He picked up speed and blinked beads of sweat out of his eyes, gritting his teeth as he neared climax. He felt Renesa tighten around him as she reached completion with her fingers and spilled onto him. He caught her earlobe in his mouth and sucked on it, only for a moment. Then, he whispered in her ear.

"No more. Don't touch yourself again."

"Okay," she wheezed.

"Just let me fuck you."

"Okay," she said.

Seth pulled out and rolled Renesa onto her back. He climbed on top of her and fitted himself back into her body, lifting one of her legs in the air as high as it would go. There was no more conversation, no hesitation. He went for it. Squaring his hips, Seth jammed inside of her, his skin slapping into hers as he heaved himself into depths even he had never before reached. He went so deep that there was a secondary thrust, almost like a second level inside her body that he was hitting each time. She cried out at every tap, clawing at his shoulders and digging her fingernails into his upper back.

She grabbed onto her breasts and flicked her own nipples, her head snapping from left to right. She reached for Seth's abdomen, running her hands over his hardened muscles, struggling to grab onto something, anything. She choked out only two broken sentences. "Oh god, I can't...! Please!"

Sensing that the end was near for them both, Seth returned to old tactics, pulling out almost entirely before crashing back into her. He repeated the move once, twice, a third time, and then he was calling Renesa's name and falling on top of her. He heard a scream and thought it was hers. It was. Then he realized there was a second voice in the mix—his—and they were screaming together, toppling over as one. A heavy burst of heat left him, effectively coating Renesa's insides, and he hid his face in her neck, breathing noisily against her skin as she held onto him with both arms. They stayed that way for a few minutes until Seth turned her over.

He shifted and rolled so that he was on his back and Renesa was on top of him. He stroked her hair and held her, moving his other hand to her back and doodling on it with his fingers as he gave her breathing a chance to return to normal. He was tired, but not so much that he planned on falling asleep without getting his point across. He combed through Renesa's hair with his fingers, working out all the tangles. When he was finished tucking it neatly behind her ears, he brought his lips up to the same ear he had been working on all night and stuck his tongue inside, wiggling it around.

She moaned and he smiled, kissing her ear. As he spoke, his lips brushed against her ear, sending pleasureful shivers throughout her body. "Ren, listen for a sec." Pause. "Ya listenin'?"

"Yeah," she murmured. She sounded out of it.

"Hey, no falling asleep yet."

"I love you, Colby," she said. "So much."

"I love you very much, too, but you're kinda killin' me and breakin' my heart."

"Oh," she said. It was only a single word, but the pain in her tone was apparent. "I don't mean to."

Seth blinked into the darkness, wishing he had left a light on so he could see her, but it was too late now. He wasn't getting up to turn one on, and from the heaviness with which Renesa lay on top of him, he doubted she was getting up, either. He kissed her temple. "I've never felt like this before, Renesa. Not about anyone but you. That's a big deal."

"It is for me, too," she said.

"But have you ever felt this way about anyone before me?"

"You mean the chemistry we have?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling again. They were on the exact same page.

"No, never."

"Listen, I don't care about your apartment anymore. I mean, not to say I don't care, but I'm not gonna keep pushing you to move everything in with me, because you know what? You'll move in here when you're ready. If you're more comfortable keeping the apartment for now, you should. I'll wait."

"You will?"

"Yeah. If I have to wait for you to see what I already see, then I will. But you should know that you're only delaying the inevitable, because our home is here in Iowa," he said. Seth rubbed her hair and she looked up, kissing the bottom of his chin. His lips found hers and they shared a kiss. "You're my person, Ren. You just are."

"I know," she answered softly.

"You might know, but knowing and accepting are two different things," he said. "You let fear get in the way, but that's fine. It is what it is. Take all the time you need; I won't hound you anymore. When you're ready to accept what's meant to be, you won't give a shit about that apartment anymore. It'll stop being important to you, and you'll let it go."

"But I don't even want it anymore," she whimpered. "I don't."

"Shh, shh, stop it," Seth said. He rested his hand on her back. "It's okay, Ren. Take your time and let it go when you're ready."

"Okay."

"You're my best friend, and this is all gonna work out in time. Don't forget that."

"I won't. You're my best friend, too."

"Go to sleep," he said.

She lay down flat against him. "M'kay."

The Hell in a Cell pay-per-view came swiftly. It was an important event, accented for Renesa by the fact that it was her and Seth's final week on the road together in a rental vehicle. Starting the very next week, they would be traveling by bus, and although Renesa had more nervous jitters than she cared to admit, she refused to tell Seth about them. He hadn't wanted the bus in the first place and would only serve to confirm what she already knew: that she had made a mistake. Even so, she believed in her choice only slightly enough to leave it be and let the cards fall where they may.

Something good had to come out of it.

Hugging her arms around herself to lock in warmth, Renesa bit her lip and frowned in concentration, never taking her eyes away from the monitor in front of her. Stephanie and Paul sat on her left side, Vince directly to her right. They leaned back behind her every so often to talk to each other and exchange notes, but they were mainly as invested as she was in Seth's match against Kane. It was for all the marbles, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, to be exact. Watching Seth in action always made Renesa nervous. She worried about his safety, of course, but it was more than that. It was the performance aspect.

Seth was a perfectionist and took his work very seriously. He laid his body on the line every single night and left his heart in the middle of that ring for all the world to see. He wanted those efforts recognized. As such, she experienced nerves right along with him whenever he stood at Gorilla position, waiting to go on, and even more when he walked down that ramp knowing that he would have to tear the house down not only for the fans in attendance, but also for those at home. She was right there with him. Reaching up absently, Renesa held onto the jewel dangling from her necklace and stretched forward in her seat.

She cringed when Seth attempted to climb the top rope but was stopped by Kane, who walked over and punched him square in the face, causing him to land with his legs parted on top of the turnbuckle. He had essentially been low-blowed by an inanimate object, and it didn't look fun. She would have to take good care of him later, after they made it back to the hotel. Her lips stretched into a soft smile as she watched him, thinking back to their discussion over the weekend. He was done pressuring. He would give her all the time she needed to make her own moves, and it was a relief knowing he was on her side no matter what.

Although her mind drifted, taking her away from the match, Renesa wasn't missing much because she already knew the outcome. Seth would retain, as she had told him shortly after they arrived at The Staples Center that day. He wasn't surprised, but had thanked her with a kiss for not making him wait until minutes before showtime to find out for himself. Stephanie gave Renesa's arm a light pinch, bringing her back down to earth. The match was over and Seth was celebrating in the ring, the title dangling from his hand. He pulled away from the referee and rolled out of the ring, his theme music blasting in the background. Renesa smiled at Stephanie and flipped through her notes, keeping track of where they were in the show.

Renesa knew the exact moment Seth had returned backstage because the immediate area erupted into cheers and applause. She joined the clapping and smiled in Seth's general direction, but he wasn't looking at her, so she returned to what she was doing. Seth didn't typically approach her after his matches, so she had zero expectations that he would this time. With Renesa's family being iffy about the existence of their relationship in the first place, they tried not to flaunt it at work. Seth thought it best for his career and hers, so Renesa went along with it.

They hadn't yet reached Paul and Stephanie levels. Paul could return from a match and kiss Stephanie anytime because, obviously, they were married. Being that they had three children, it was clear their relationship wasn't going anywhere. At least, not anytime soon. Renesa and Seth didn't have the years nor the children under their belt, so to everyone else, there's was a throwaway relationship, even though Paul and Stephanie had started out the same way. The double standard annoyed Renesa to no end, but she reminded herself that she and Seth would be the ones to define their relationship, not everyone else.

Renesa only needed Seth's love and approval. As long as she had that, nothing else mattered. Somewhere in the middle of flipping pages and pretending to be busier than she actually was, Renesa felt a powerful presence on her right side. It was Seth. He walked around the production table to give Vince a hug. Vince stood and patted him on the back. They exchanged hushed words, and Seth left Vince to shake Paul's hand. Stephanie stood to hug Seth, but Renesa, not knowing whether or not she was supposed to acknowledge him, remained seated.

She got her answer soon after. Seth touched down on the back of her head and when she turned around, he bent forward and kissed her lips. Her breath caught in her throat, and it even felt like her heart might have skipped a few beats, but when nothing bad happened after the first few seconds, she kissed him back and cupped his cheek in the process. Seth pulled away and gave her a final, small peck on the tip of her nose. "Was I any good out there?"

Renesa grinned up at him with wide eyes. "You were amazing."

"Thanks," he said.

Just that quickly, he was gone, and Renesa was left with a full heart and, more importantly, hope for their future. When she caught Stephanie's eye, they exchanged grins. For Stephanie, this was a walk down memory lane, almost like watching a ghost of her own relationship as it had happened all those years before. Aside from that, Stephanie was a sucker for a good love story. The parallels between Renesa's relationship with Seth and Stephanie's with Paul were undeniable, and as such, Renesa was thankful to have her sister in her corner. How fortunate she was that someone who had been there before could offer up advice whenever she needed it.

Renesa checked over her shoulder to make sure Seth had gone. He wasn't anywhere in sight or within earshot, so she got out of her seat and cruised on over to Stephanie, who immediately reached out to squeeze her arm. "He was incredible, Popsy. I hope you told him so."

"Oh, I always tell him," Renesa said. She took a breath and pointed softly in Stephanie's direction. "But, hey, I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure," Stephanie nodded. "What is it?"

Renesa lowered her voice to prevent anyone from overhearing and leaned in close. "So, Colb wants me to let go of my apartment, to get rid of it and move everything I have to where he is. He keeps bringing it up, and I don't know what to do. Like, am I crazy for not letting go of my stupid apartment?"

"Depends," Stephanie shrugged. "What's the reason you're holding onto it?"

"I told Colby it was because of my mom, because I've never lived far away from her before. That's true," Renesa said, taking pause. "I mean, it's partly true."

"Okay," Stephanie said. She crossed her arms and squared her shoulders as if she was beginning to see exactly where all this was headed. "What's the bigger reason? Are you freaking out because you don't know if things are going to work out for you guys in the long run? Basically, you don't want to make a big move, only to have to move everything back again if it all fails?"

"Kind of."

"I'll tell you what," she began, "you can easily replace an apartment. If you let it go, you can always go and get another one if you move back to Rhode Island for whatever reason, but you can never get another chance with your man. If you care about him like I think you do and this is what he needs from you to feel more secure about the relationship, give it to him. It sounds like he thinks you're a little flaky and he needs this one thing to reassure him you're going to stick around. Let him have it. Doubt is a normal part of a relationship, to an extent, but at some point you've just got to make the leap."

"Really?"

"I think so," Stephanie said. "Everything else can be replaced. An apartment can be replaced, but there's never going to be a time in the future when you get to do this with Colby again. Once this time is gone, it's gone, and you guys can never get it back."

"Okay," Renesa said, nodding slowly. She stood up straight and did one more nod of confidence. "Okay, you're right. I'm going to let the apartment go and see what happens."

"I can't tell you what to do, but if I had been in your situation with Paul and that's all he had asked of me, I would have left my apartment in a heartbeat. I would have done anything for him, and I still would. That's real love, to me."

"I love Colby. It definitely feels real to me," Renesa said.

"Then do this for him. He does things for you, right?"

"All the time. We're traveling by private bus starting next week, and he hates the idea of it, but he's doing it for me."

"Right," Stephanie said, "so, do this one thing for him. You never know how big it might pay off in the end."

"Thanks, Steph. I couldn't make a decision, but now I know what to do."

"I don't want to tell you what to do, just so we're clear. I'm only speaking from experience and letting you know how I would handle it if I were in your place. I think Colby doesn't know how to take you sometimes and kind of gets mixed signals. You tend to put up a wall when you reach a certain point with people, and from the outside looking in, I think he feels like he's reached that wall. He's trying to push through it and get more of you, so if you're in love with him the way I think you are, let him through," she said. "I think amazing things will start to happen for you guys once you push past this little bump in the road."

"So, that's what I'll do, then," Renesa said. Stephanie tipped her head and smiled.

"Good. Let me know how it works out."

"Oh, for sure."