Three weeks had passed since Rhiannon's entry into the WWE and surprisingly, rather than protesting at her presence, Imogen barely acknowledged her at all and, although it hurt, Imogen's attitude didn't really surprise Rhian one bit. The upside to this was that she got to spend some uninterrupted time with Kiara at the arenas.

Everything else seemed to be falling into place as well. Although there were the usual teething problems she had with fitting in, Rhiannon had managed to impress most everybody with her work ethic as well as her in-ring talent. There was talk about putting her in a few possible angles, but so far the writers and management hadn't quite found "the right mix", as they put it. She and Jeff had good chemistry and they were considering matching them up, but figured that there was really nothing else to do besides put them in a romantic angle. Rhiannon had vehemently fought against the idea. Besides the fact that Jeff was dating her best friend, the idea of kissing someone she thought of as a brother just made her skin crawl. She couldn't seem to abide the thought of it, so the writers let the idea go, asking her for some ideas and promising to consider other options.

This particular afternoon Rhiannon was in the downstairs restaurant of the hotel helping Kiara with her schoolwork. Although she really was making an effort to concentrate, Kiara was becoming increasingly edgy as time wore on, looking over her shoulder every few minutes, checking for her mother.

"C'mon love, I can take you back to your room if you're really that worried." Rhiannon finally sighed and Kiara just shook her head sharply, a frown plastered on her face.

"No, I want to stay. I just don't want Mom coming down and dragging me off."

"Look, your mother just wants what's best for you Kiara, don't let her stress you out, okay?" Rhian advised gently, although she knew it was easier said than done.

"How can I not? She's trying to control my entire life! I'm 14 years old now, she can't tell me who I can and can't see or speak to." She ran her fingers through her long, wavy blonde hair nervously, looking around again. When Kiara was sure the coast was clear, she looked back to her aunt, seeming more agitated than ever. "And will you look at what she's making me wear?" As she motioned to the pastel pink, slightly low cut cardigan, short white skirt and pale pink sandals that she wore, Rhiannon couldn't hide the tiny smirk that crept onto her face. "I'm not a bloody clothes-horse Rhian! I hate wearing pink! This is not funny, why are you laughing?" She asked indignantly as Rhiannon started giggling helplessly and shook her head.

"Hey, at least it's you and not me." Kiara pouted as she realised that she was going to get absolutely no sympathy here.

"You're horrible Rhiannon, I'm being terrorised here!" She replied with absolutely no conviction, which only served to make Rhiannon laugh harder.

"Oh no, I've been there and done that so I'm allowed to laugh at your misfortune now." She explained cheekily and Kiara's eyes widened in shock.

"You let Mom dress you up? You?"

"Well, I was the baby sister. She used to dress me up all the time until I hit my teens, then I started getting all rebellious, so I told her to bugger off and made my own style. I have to admit, it was pretty tragic, but at least it wasn't all lace and frills."

"So, what was it like?" Kiara asked, her eyes bright and a large grin on her face.

"What, the style?" Kiara nodded and Rhiannon started chuckling. "Oh god, I don't know, it started out kinda grungy and ended up as full on Goth. I'll see if I can dig up some old photos next time we go home." Kiara started to laugh as she imagined her aunt as a Goth. It just didn't seem right.

"What did Grandma and Grandpa say when you started doing that?" She regretted the question as soon as she asked it since, at the mention of her grandparents, the familiar haunted shadow, which always unnerved Kiara, returned to Rhian's eyes.

"I'm sure you can guess, dear." She replied wryly. "Anyway, things turned out okay for my wardrobe in the end. It's not to everybody's taste, but I like what I wear and find it very comfortable." She smiled, seemingly satisfied as she looked down at the plain crimson top and flowing black pants that she wore. It was a very simple, natural look, not very stylish, but still suited her nonetheless. They sat in silence for a few minutes, a slight air of tension still surrounding them. Kiara sighed and decided to change the subject.

"So, how's it going with work? Have they decided what to do with you yet?" Rhiannon smiled and shook her head.

"No, they're still thinking about it, and so am I. I have a few vague ideas, but I don't know if they'll work. I'm meeting with the writers again tomorrow morning and we'll talk some more. It would help if they didn't shoot down every idea I had for a character. All they want to do with me is turn me into some sort of bimbo who follows some guy around and interferes in his matches."

"Like Mom?" Kiara asked, looking slightly amused as Rhiannon realised that was exactly what Imogen's character did with Matt Hardy.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" Rhiannon replied mildly, rolling her eyes, as Kiara burst into giggles.

"No, of course you didn't." She said, looking over her shoulder again. This time she saw Jeff walking towards their table followed closely by Shane Helms.

"What are you giggling about?" Jeff took a seat next to Rhiannon and served them both a good-natured grin as Shane sat next to Kiara.

"Oh, we were just discussing my mother's "in-ring" talent." Kiara replied dryly and Shane chuckled at her tone.

"Kiara! We were not, you put words into my mouth young lady." Rhian scolded gently, trying to hide a smile.

"Well, considering the fact that she's only had one or two singles matches in over a year, I don't think the powers that be consider her to be all that talented in the ring either." Jeff told his friend honestly, and she tried to look annoyed as she defended her sister.

"She not all that bad. Her real problem is that she relies too heavily on the other person she's wrestling with to, um, choreograph the match..." She looked a bit sheepish as she said this, realising that she was just illustrating their point.

"Yes dear, whatever you say." Jeff grinned at Shane, who just shrugged his shoulders, looking warily at the young woman who sat across from him as if he had something to say but didn't know how to say it.

"Is there any particular reason why you're staring at me Shane?" Rhiannon asked in a quiet voice a few moments later, not very comfortable with the attention.

"Do you have any idea what's being planned for you?" Shane asked directly, deciding to find out exactly what she'd been told.

"No. I'm meeting with the writers tomorrow. Why's that?"

"Well, I've been asked whether I'd like a new sidekick." He replied hesitantly, and Rhiannon raised an eyebrow.

"Really? How nice." It wasn't the response that Shane had expected and didn't know quite how to reply. Jeff looked between the two in confusion.

"Um, I think he meant..." Jeff started, but was cut off from finishing by Rhiannon.

"Yes, I know what he meant." She giggled and winked at Kiara, who had started laughing too. "Sorry Shane, I was just playing."

"Strange game." He mumbled, slightly confused by her sudden personality change.

"I'm just teaching Kiara how to keep people at arms length if she doesn't like them. It's something we've been working on for a while." She explained, looking a bit apologetic and Shane frowned, not sure how he felt about the information.

"So, what are you saying? You don't like me?"

"Not at all." Rhiannon shrugged coyly. "I just needed a test subject." She grinned cheekily at Shane, who just shook his head, confused and intrigued by this strange woman. But all of a sudden, her smile faded and her emerald eyes turned cold. He turned around to see what the problem was and spied Imogen marching resolutely towards their table.

"Kiara! I thought I told you to be up at our room an hour ago." Imogen fumed quietly as she reached her daughter and Kiara's eyes narrowed, irritated by the lie that her mother told just to get her away from Rhian. She stole a quick glance at Rhiannon who was observing Imogen with a raised eyebrow; it was obvious that she knew what her sister was up to as well.

"No mother, that was at the last hotel." She replied sharply, before her expression changed to one of concern. "I really think you need to take better care of yourself, your memory's been slipping quite a bit lately. Maybe all that fast living is finally catching up with you." Imogen's breath caught in her throat and she had to stop herself from slapping the smirk off her daughter's face.

"If you continue to speak to me that way, I will make sure you don't leave the room at all, young lady. Now go." She instructed her daughter coldly, avoiding looking at anyone else, expecially Rhiannon.

"Fine." Kiara sighed, slowly rising from the table and gathering her books. "I'll see you tomorrow guys." She forced a smile at Rhiannon, Jeff and Shane as she walked away from the table. Imogen smiled briefly at Shane and Jeff before following Kiara out of the restaurant.

Shane took a minute to get his thoughts in order before he turned to look at Rhiannon. She was still staring at the spot her sister had been standing moments before, her expression guarded.

"I've seen your sister in a feral mood before, but never like that. Did you two have an argument or something?" He asked, snapping Rhiannon out of her musings. She glanced at Jeff with a questioning look and he just shook his head.

"I suppose you could say it's a carry over from an argument we had a year or so ago. We haven't really sorted it out yet." She sighed, flicking a stray strand of strawberry blonde hair out of her eyes.

"And Kiara's the one suffering for it?" He asked bluntly, then silently cursed himself as Jeff shot him an angry look and he realised he'd put his foot in his mouth. But strangely, rather than being upset, Rhiannon's lips twitched at the corners and she looked Shane over. He was the first person she'd met in the locker room that hadn't skirted around the issue of Imogen and Rhian's obvious issues. She was intrigued to see this opinionated side of Shane, who usually kept to himself.

"Kiara's always been the one suffering because of her mother's selfishness." Jeff jumped in before Rhiannon could answer, surprising both of his companions with the conviction of his statement.

"Ah, come on Jeff, you know I haven't made much of an effort to fix things either." She chided gently after a moment and Jeff snorted.

"Do you really think she'd listen?" He posed the question quite calmly and Rhian just shrugged with a bitter smile.

"I know she wouldn't. But I have to at least try, for Kiara's sake...the reason I found Shane's observation so interesting is that I was just considering how I could fix things for that very reason. I only came back to the business to make sure Kiara was happy and being taken care of. Well, I don't think her mother and I always being at each other's throats is going to make things very comfortable for her. I have a responsibility to change that." She told Jeff quietly, her expression pensive, as it always was when she was making a serious decision.

"Goddamn it Rhiannon, you're not the one who was in the wrong. I saw what happened and I saw what Imogen's actions did to you and to Kiara. She should be the one apologising, not you."

"Maybe. But I didn't handle things very well when it came down to the crunch. I need to take responsibility for that." When Jeff shook his head in disagreement, Rhiannon placed a firm hand on his arm to make him stop and listen. "Not everything is black and white Jeff. I need to do this. For Kiara." She looked into his eyes, sending a silent plea for support, and after a moment he sighed in frustration. Jeff knew Rhiannon was right, but he still couldn't help resenting Imogen for the lives she'd almost ruined through her selfish actions.

"Fine. But you can tell Kylie your plans yourself. There's no way I'm gettin' in trouble for this one." He grumbled, hiding a grin at her obvious relief.

"Of course dear." She smiled gratefully at him before standing and getting herself ready to go and face the music. Shane looked at both of them in amazement, a little bit confused by their resolve and shocked that Rhiannon hadn't had a go at him for sticking his nose into her business. Rhian glanced down to see him staring at her through narrowed eyes.

"Look Shane, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but if you don't mind I really think I'd enjoy working with you. Do you think we could discuss it sometime soon?" Rhian asked, her deep emerald eyes staring unwaveringly into his dark brown ones, and Shane felt his breath catch in his chest as she smiled. For the first time, he realised just how pretty this young woman really was.

"Yeah, why not? How about we meet at the arena after the show tomorrow?" Shane asked quickly, swallowing his sudden nervousness as her smile widened.

"Sounds great. I gotta run, so I'll see you then." She turned to Jeff and her smile suddenly turned cheeky. "I promise I'll make sure Kylie doesn't yell at you too much when she finds out what you let me do. Bye." She waved back at them as she ran out the door and Jeff looked at Shane with a look of pity in his eyes.

"It sort of just hits you doesn't it?"

"Huh?" Shane snapped out of his stunned daze to look at his friend.

"It just sort of hits you all of a sudden that she is actually beautiful. Just because she looks nothing like Imogen and doesn't wear a ton of make-up a lot of people don't notice it at first...then it just seems to appear out of nowhere. I was lucky. I'm not actually attracted to her. I don't think I can say the same for you though." Jeff suppressed a chuckle as he saw how annoyed Shane was by the observation.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jeff. I'm not attracted to her in the least." He snapped, pretending to study the pictures hanging on the café walls just so he didn't have to look at the smug grin on his friend's face.

"Well, I guess that's a good thing when you think about it." Its not that Jeff believed Shane's denial, but a thought had just occurred him that made him realise it would probably be better if Shane weren't interested in Rhiannon.

"Why's that?" Shane sighed, trying not to seem too curious, but when Jeff didn't answer he looked up to see his friend staring at him in amusement.

"Well, I'm not really supposed to tell you. I mean, Kylie and I are the only ones who know about it..."

"Will you just spit it out Jeff. What are you so concerned about?"

"Well, I really hope you don't have feelings for my sister, for your sake, since I just found out she's seeing none other than Kevin Fertig." Shane's jaw dropped in shock and it took him a few minutes to find his voice.

"Are you serious? She's actually seeing..."

"Oh yes, Rhiannon's dating the WWE's newest star: Mordecai."

After much deliberation, I decided to cut out the roster split from this and mostly only use made up storylines concentrating on the characters that are really central to this story...if that makes sense. Eh, I don't care if it doesn't...it's I've been up since 6 am and it's now 1am and I'm exhausted, so sue me! LOL

Besides, I like making up my own WWE storylines...most of them seem (to me anyway) much more interesting than some of the stuff they're coming up with lately...lol

Anyway, please review my story...reviews make me happy. And I like being happy. Most of the time, anyway. ;o)

Take care!