A few days later Roman searched one of his drawers frantically for his red shirt. Her red shirt. The one she'd stolen from him one day years ago and had worn so often her scent was embedded. He could remember coming home to her on the couch in nothing but that shirt.

Once he finally located it, Roman felt like he could breathe again. He sat on the edge of his bed and took a few deep breaths, breathing in her scent. Feeling like his brain was going to explode, he untied his hair and massaged his scalp.

Dallas, TX. June 2nd. 2018.

"Happy Birthday Little Sis" Charlotte said squeezing her from the side. "26 looks good on you. I'm proud of you Kiddo..."

"Char-Char..." Rylie began, tearing up a bit. With hectic schedules the sisters hadn't spent much time together lately, but Charlotte was in town for SmackDown and Rylie wanted to go somewhere fun for her birthday. The two sister strapped on their cowgirl boots and met up with some of the other superstars. They clinked their glasses together and soon the night was underway. It was a little past midnight when she saw a familiar face walk up to their booth. She slid through a few Superstars to greet him.

"Rollins." Rylie hadn't been drinking too much that night. She had a shoot in a few days and didn't feel like working out non stop. She sipped on her second vodka-soda as she watched him pull out a small purple wrapped gift.

Her favorite color.

Roman.

"Where is he?" She asked looking behind Seth then quickly scanning downstairs.

"He didn't wanna ruin anything with your boyfriend on your birthday, ya know?"

"What boyfriend?" she asked cocking her head, her raven hair flowing over her shoulder.

"That actor dude… we all heard." Seth admitted. By this point, pictures of Chad and Rylie had been all over, from them out shopping together or going out to dinner.

Rylie rolled her eyes in frustration. "He's not my boyfriend… if you guys think… if he thinks that after six months… that I could just move on like that…? Wow he really never really believed in me did he? Did he care?" She asked almost in tears.

"Don't you fucking dare, Rylie Scout… I've always loved you." She turned around hearing his breath on her neck. She turned and looked at him standing there in a leather jacket and fitted black tee she just wanted to rip off. Her heart stopped her from making a single move.

He grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her towards the way he entered, down the back stairs. Once outside, they stopped on the empty stairwell. At 5'9'' and in heels, Rylie towered over Roman, who stood a few steps below her.

"For the past six months I've been an complete fucking moron. I miss you everyday. I know this is my fault, okay? I know that I'm the one who did this to us… But Ry- those six years? Baby those were the best of my life. And I want more of them with you… Hell, I want all of them with you, Babygirl."

She stood there in shock, listening to everything she'd been waiting to hear from him the past six months. She sniffled a bit looking down at the man she once considered her entire world. The face that once would've brought her out of any funk, was now the reason she was always hurting. She turned and held onto the stairway railing, looking down at the quiet alley below them, shaking her head.

"I'm gonna do whatever I can, ok? To prove that I won't hurt you like this again. I just… you have to know that I care about you. I only did all this for you. I knew your modeling career was important to you… but you were always home waiting on me. I couldn't be the reason you weren't following your dreams."

"I guess a part of me convinced myself that to have your dreams come true… you had to do it without me."