Welcome back! The fifth instalment has arrived, I again hope that you're able to enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or any of it's affiliates or the wrestlers. They all belong to the WWE and themselves. I'm simply borrowing them and using them to make stuff up. The OC is all mine. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Chapter 5

Rayne's POV

Bumping into John has done little for the anxiety currently ebbing within. Arriving here I knew that there was a chance that I would bump into people, people that I don't necessarily want to see or talk to. Yet here I stand, rather content with my little chat staring at the signs above my head, making no plan to shift myself into a darkened corridor or hide within the shadows. When I should be screaming at my feet to move, to find Steph and go home. What's up with that? Scared shitless but standing in the middle of it all. Apart of me is hoping that someone else appears and welcomes me just like he did, I don't know why I suddenly feel the need to be accepted into this group. When they as good as left me on my own. To fight the monsters, to save the prince, bring him home and play house. When they themselves were able to help, to discourage his behaviour, send him home and yet took a back seat and let him continue his downward spiral. Yet they insisted on labelling me as his downfall, implying that I was the cause of his destruction, that I broke him. When your idolised as much as you are within the company, you have to go along way before you're personally held accountable for your actions, and until such a day arises it falls to people like me to be placed with that burden of blame. A completely unfair consequence of falling in love with one of them.

I really should get to finding where Steph has gone, after all she's the reason I came here today. And I know I had the chance to talk to her about it earlier, but I chickened out for fear of who could be lurking behind the curtain. That would be just what I need, more gossip floating around, more half truths that make it difficult to gather the information. Which makes it annoying as hell, that I had the chance to talk to her, chose not to and now she's pulled her famous Houdini act. She could be a descendent of the great man himself the way she manages to leave at times. I can't help but chuckle at the thought of her with a cape disappearing in a puff of smoke, only to reappear next to an unsuspecting person.

Standing and talking to John is probably one of the high points of the last few months, even though it wasn't a record breaking conversation or even one of our regular standard, it was more than enough to reassure me that he at least thinks there is nothing to forgive me for. It's like I've been on holiday for a few weeks, instead of the months I've actually been avoiding him for. There apparently is still a Rayne shape place in his life for me. That in itself is one of the best feelings a person will ever have.

Finally engaging my feet I follow in the direction that she left in over half an hour ago, ignoring the signs that only serve to confuse the people who shouldn't be behind the scenes. Which apparently means me too, as I pass through yet another set of doors into a corridor that looks identical to the one I just walked through. Maybe I should of just stayed put, waited it out until she came back for me. I wouldn't feel like an utter idiot just aimlessly wondering around then. I totally should have left a trail of breadcrumbs in my wake, been all Hansel and Gretel. Someone round here would undoubtedly become interested in that and seek out what's at the end of the trail. Maybe they could save the day?

Ergh! What am I thinking? I want to be less conspicuous to these people not, giving them a big flashy arrow pointing directly at me.

"Stupid place. With your stupid same coloured corridors!" Growling aloud as I push through another set of doors only to be greeted by yet another empty hallway. Today Is certainly not going as planned. Rummaging for my earphones I put them in and hit play, letting the music take over sweeping away the thoughts that fill my head.

"How did I get here

And what went wrong

Couldn't handle forgiveness

Now I'm far beyond gone

And I can hardly remember

The look of my own eyes

How could I love this

A life so dishonest

It made me compromise"

Feeling the heat of something touching my bare shoulder makes me to jump and spin round at a speed that I was unaware I could move at, which is quickly indicated by the more then familiar feeling of nausea that washes over me. Scowling as I remove my earphones, I look to the culprit, ready to give them a piece of my mind. Only to have that nauseated feeling intensify, and the angry words fade clean out of mind.

"Are you alright? You look awfully pale!" They spoke before I had chance to find words, the familiar voice sang through my head. Knowing full well that I look pale and am now feeling terrible, I lean against the nearest wall. Welcoming the cool on my skin, taking the edge of the nasty feeling swirling within as well as the heat from the eyes currently boring into me. Placing my head against the wall, eyes closed, unwilling to look at the person currently standing in front of me. "I did call your name. But you didn't hear I guess..." His voice once again dancing towards me.

"Yeah something like that..." I mumble, running my hand through my hair twirling sections to consciously keeping my hands well away from my bump. One of the habits I've developed through pregnancy is placing my hands on, or rubbing it. Both which would not be advisable in this current situation. "Just turned round to quick, made me a bit dizzy is all."

"Sounds like something you'd do... Erm, what are you doing here exactly?" Maybe I did leave that trail of bread crumbs behind me or there really is a giant flashy red sign pointing directly at me. Of all the people that could bump into me it has to be him. A guy that can spot me lying from a mile away, knows exactly how I avoid things and exactly what to do to get the answers he wants out of me. Why'd I have to go and get myself into a situation like this? Oh yeah I remember, I wanted to be happy. And apparently a cost of being happy is making myself come here to talk to Steph face to face, instead of over the phone. Since talking face to face means you have to be in a place with them, which subsequently means here today. With superstars walking around and corridors that all look the same. Not my best idea so far. I've not accomplished what I set out to, instead I've gotten lost, feel horrible, have backache and really need to pee! Silly bean.

"Earth to Rayne?" The tanned hand moved in front of my face, drawing me out of my thoughts, I presume I looked somewhat flustered, as the next thing that came out of his mouth was a melodic chuckle accompanied by a giant smirk across his face.

"Sorry, there's alot bouncing around in here today." Raising my hand to touch the side of my head, a frown still heavily placed upon my features.

"Nothing new there then. So what brings you hear then? I'm guessing it's not my wonderful self?" His pearly whites beamed across at me, as he continues to watch my every move.

"Nah not for you. I was meant to be meeting Steph, but she had to go answer a call and I lost her." Sighing I tug the end of my hair, "I'm still technically not happy with you." Raising my eyebrow at him. "But I'm presuming that you already know that, given you've just stopped smiling."

"Ah, yeah... um." The useless stream of words just added to the knowledge that he wasn't unaware of exactly what I was implying. A sigh blew through his lips, his eyes sunk to the floor glueing themselves to an imaginary spot on the floor. That look tugged at my heart, and given my current emotional state didn't discourage the tears from making an appearance. Once again my vision started to blur, with tears I'd been trying desperately not to shed. With a quick swipe removing the moisture that leaked.

"Look forget about it, it happened, move on ey? How's the little one anyway?" Nicely bypassed, talking about his dog always brings a smile upon his face, which is far better than the face he's currently pulling.

"Lucas is awesome as always. I have some pictures on my phone, I can show you. Steph was just outside, that way, on the phone." He plunged his hand toward the bag that slummed over his shoulder, fishing out the phone which undoubtedly held the pictures which he was referring to before pointing in the direction of a large grey door. Indicating where he'd seen Steph, which I hadn't managed to spot.

"If you're going to show me a whole load of them, I'm going to need to sit down. My back is killing me. It's not going to take up all my time is it? You know that's a pricey commodity." I smirked as he looked at me, ushering me through the grey door and to to the nearest seat.

"I think Ms Heiskanen, that you know me to well. Of course I have a million pictures of him, he's my baby he's gotten so big since you last saw him." His face a picture of happiness as he though about his dog. Some people may deem it strange that this big beefy guy is so attached to his tiny dog. But they don't know him, they don't understand just how stable Lucas is for him. After everything that has happened over the past five years. People outside of this bubble can't quite grasp the novelty of having such a constant in life, something that welcomes you home, that are always happy to see you even when you've done something utterly stupid. People leave you, treat you differently when they feel like it and sometimes don't even give your feelings a second thought while they are of doing what ever they fancy doing at the time. So as sad as it may seem, for him to have Lucas is ideal and enjoyable for him, very cute too.

"Of course I do Mr Hardy." I still find it awesome that he is able to pronounce my name, even with that southern drawl his. "Good to see you've still got my name down."

"Well that's what you get when you're family, missy. After all these years you can't expect me to get it wrong." A half smile graced my lips as he spoke. Family. I wish I could still see it that way, that he could still be my big brother when mines far away. That he could be my shoulder to cry on when things got rocky, back me up when I'm cast in the shadows, enjoy having his ass handed to him on many a game. But thats just not the way this story goes, with everything that has happened it can't be that way again. Especially now, maybe if he'd of actually done what he said he was going to then, we'd be sitting here in a completely different situation. Maybe if I'd of had the balls to sort things out before the head on collision, I wouldn't feel the urge to pull his ponytail, wouldn't feel disappointed that he didn't help. I guess today could be seen as a passing ritual, before the last nail in the coffin is inserted and things can never be brought up again.

"Yeah I guess so." There it is, that look. His eyes scrutinising my face, taking in every move or look. It's similar to the one that your parent would give you when they know something isn't right, but aren't sure about what it is so they don't say anything. "I don't think you can really apply the family thing to me anymore. It would kinda go against everything that happened ya'know." I hastily added before he had chance to vocalise that look.

"Nope," shaking his head vehemently, "You're my baby sister whether you like it or not. Who else can I pick on?" His arm cradled around my shoulders, in a half hug. That was it. That set everything off. The tears I had so skillfully removed previously reappeared with a vengeance, no longer was my vision slightly blurred; the dam ruptured the torrent rushed down my face quicker than either of us could react to. Not good.

"Rae? Rae-baby, what's wrong?"