Chapter Fourteen: Baby, We're Going Down

Three weeks had flown past and Randy hadn't seen head or tail of Raleigh. She had tried sending him multiple texts the night he told her it was over. She told him that she couldn't travel with him if they weren't going to be more then friends, he agreed. He was still hurting from the break up, but would instantly clam up whenever people pointed out his personality change. He avoided the subject as did Raleigh, the only people that knew why she moped around like an abused puppy was Chris. She barely talked to them about it either, always crying or being silent.

Randy sat nervously in Vince's office, he crossed his legs at the ankles still pondering why he was called in here in the first place. He feared that his boss knew he and Raleigh weren't following his directions and stopped traveling together. Vince came in and slammed the door abruptly, throwing the contract on the table in front of Randy as well as himself. Yup, he knew.

"So… can I just ask you something?" Vince's blood pressure was visible through his face, it was beat red and Randy could have sworn he saw veins bursting through his neck.

"Anything boss."

"Tell me why you seem to love to break all my rules that I lay out for you? They are there for a reason. I'm running a business and everything that I say, I say with intentions for the upkeep of my company. Do you understand?"

"Of course sir," Randy bit back the confession he was dying to make. He knew if he stayed too long he would spill everything about their love affair, he would end up begging to break the storyline so he could go back to Raleigh. He forced himself quiet, he knew Vince would fire them both on the spot, he didn't tolerate disobeying to this degree.

"I arranged for you and Raleigh to travel together. I asked you to keep up appearances of being a legitimate couple that way. I've caught wind from your fellow co-workers that you two haven't been on a plane or in a car together for weeks. Why's that?" It shocked Randy that Mr. McMahon was even giving him a chance to explain himself.

He took in a deep breathe and prepared himself, if he told the truth not only would he be in deep shit, he would also be throwing Raleigh under the bus, something he would never let himself do.

"Raleigh's been really sick, the flu she thinks, that she hasn't been able to get rid of. She didn't want me to get sick too so we decided to travel separately until she was feeling better." He uncrossed his legs, looking directly in Vince's eyes. He's always been a good liar, he was praying it would finally pay off in a good way.

"Is that so?" Vince ran a hand through his gray tuff of hair and shook his head, he appeared to be buying the story. "Let me make something very clear to you Mr. Orton, I want you to pass the message along to Mrs. Blackwell also. I am not running a daycare, I don't have time to chase around each of the superstars making sure they pay attention to my regulations. I'm letting this slide, but starting today, you're traveling together again." He forcefully opened the top drawer of the desk, throwing the folder of contracts into it. "You're free to go," he waved Orton off with his hand and took out his blackberry, preparing to make a conference call. As Randy stood up to exit the room, Vince looked over at him, covering the bottom of his phone. "One more thing."

Randy stopped dead in his tracks and turned the upper half of body back towards Mr. McMahon.

"Don't lie to me again," he simply stated, shooing him away again after.

Raleigh leaned on the hood of Randy's rental car, letting out a huff of air that formed all around her, it was twenty-six degrees outside. If she wasn't so mad at her boss for making her ride with Randy again, she would have been freezing, luckily her resentment was keeping her warm. Her breathe was visible in the air, she watched as it floated away in the breeze each time she exhaled. The back door of the arena opened catching her attention, she looked over and saw the face that both captured and broke her heart, she had no idea how she'd make it through the rest of storyline.

"Hey stranger," he called over to her as he approached both her and the car. He sent her one of his heart-warming smiles and Raleigh felt her scowl soften into a small smile. She couldn't resist him, anything about him, which would only mean trouble.

"Hey…" she attempted avoiding eye contact with him to no avail. He walked directly in front of her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Randy…" she sighed, being in his arms again made her forget every problem she'd been having.

"Come on, it's freezing out here," he opened the passenger side door for her, smirking at her as he shut it lightly. He climbed into the drivers seat and rubbed his hands together quickly. "It's down right bitter out, how long were you waiting outside?" His lips turned downwards into a frown, he knew something was bothering her or she would have waited inside like a normal, sane person.

"Just ten minutes," she lied through her teeth. She had been waiting out in the cold for over thirty minutes, not wanting to talk to anyone inside. She knew someone would try to lure her into a conversation, the last thing she wanted.

He nodded, knowing she was lying. Raleigh was the worst liar he knew, he found it absolutely adorable how terrible she was at lying to him. In all actuality she wasn't a bad liar in general, only when it came to him, otherwise she could lie her way to Mars and back. He clicked the radio station on as they pulled out the parking lot, nodding his head to the lot attendant. "Sugar, We're Going Down" by Fall Out Boy started to creep through the speakers, getting louder as it made it's way past the introduction.

Randy hummed along, tapping along to the rhythm with his fingers.

"Wishing to be the friction in yours jeans," Randy sang along, winking over at Raleigh.

She responded with an eye roll, this was the last thing she needed, to fall for him all over again.

Randy smiled sweetly as he put a hand on her shoulder squeezing it lightly.

"I have to admit I missed these car rides with you. Having no company was getting pretty boring." He looked over at her, his blue eyes even more brilliant against the snowy landscape around them. She bit her tongue, wanting to do nothing more then lean over and kiss him on the lips. Randy moved his hand to the back of her neck, caressing it delicately. She trembled from the touch.

"I have an idea," she called out, making an effort to change the subject. She had so much on her mind that she needed to get out, it was jamming up her brain and she didn't know how much longer she could take it.

"What's that?" He pulled his hand away and turned back to the road, feeling her uneasiness.

"Let's play the random game." She gave him a chipper smile whenever he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Never heard of it," he was confused about how strangely she was acting. He knew she was still upset over the break up but so was he, and he wasn't acting like a lunatic. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he waited for her explanation.

"It's just a car ride game. I start off saying a random word, then you say something else random.… it's silly, but something to do." She pulled her bright pink gloves off and stuffed them into the glove box in front of her, cranking up the heat when she was finished.

"Alright, go ahead." Randy was still confused, but agreed, whatever she wants, he thought to himself.

"Trees."

"Birds."

"Apples."

"Bananas."

"I'm pregnant."The car screeched to a halt in the middle of the road, Randy's eyes were wide as he slowly turned his head to look over at her. She smiled weakly, wincing whenever he didn't return the smile. The ear-piercing horn behind them snapped him out of his trance, he carefully pulled the car onto the side of the road and gripped the steering wheel tightly. He didn't know what to say. She was pregnant? Who was the father? Randy knew that she had been with both Cody and himself and thought it wouldn't be clear who the actual dad was.

"I know what you're thinking," she placed her hands gently on her lap and rubbed her thighs lightly up and down. She was nervous and didn't know if his reaction would get worse.

"Hmm?" Randy tapped softly on the steering wheel with his thumb, he was still stunned about the baby news. He didn't know whether to be ecstatic for her, or disappointed. He knew one thing, the shit would hit the fan once Vince found out.

"I'm eight weeks along. I did the math… I haven't had sex with Cody in a long time, I kept making excuses every time he wanted to." She let out a small sigh and ran a hand through her long, dark hair. "The baby's yours. You're going to be a father, Randy."