Having walked out of Stephanie's locker room when Brian walked in Paul didn't want anybody to get suspicious of their behaviour or the fact that they were actually spending time together.

As soon as he was outside of the locker room he looked around the corridor. Under normal circumstances he would go and hang out with some of the boys but right now he wasn't in the mood to hang out with them as it was their fault his life was such a damn mess. Deciding the best course of action was just to be alone he made his way down to ringside.

Taking a seat ringside he put his feet up on the barricade and relaxed back. Taking out his phone he scrolled through it pretending like he was busy if anybody came near the ring. Staring at his phone he scrolled through some older texts from Stephanie and smiled softly as he read them, it made him feel closer to her.

As he flipped his phone shut and thought about making his way backstage again he flinched when somebody sat down beside him. Turning to face his newly acquired companion Paul frowned when he saw who it was, "Dwayne, what can I do for you?"

Dwayne mimicked Paul's pose, "I just wondered how you were going?"

Rolling his eyes Paul moved his feet from the barricade and placed them back on the floor leaning his forearms on his thighs unable to keep the sarcasm from his voice, "things are great, life is amazing. Why do you even care anyway?"

Frowning Dwayne turned to mimic Paul's pose again, "why are you so defensive?"

Turning his head to look at Dwayne Paul couldn't decide if he was serious or just seriously stupid, "you either live under a rock or in a cave."

Laughing Dwayne was still confused, "maybe a little of both? I rotate where I stay so people never know where to find me. What exactly have I missed during my trip to Hollywood?"

"Wait, you really don't know what the hell happened with me and Steph?"

Raising his eyebrow Dwayne had wondered what the talk in the locker room was about but he had a feeling he was about to find out first hand, "apparently not. Did she cheat on you with Gerry Brisco?"

Paul snorted a little, despite his shitty mood that was vaguely funny to him, "if only. I guess you'll find out soon enough anyway so I may aswell tell you. There was a couple of different things that went down but Stephanie and I are no longer together."

"So the two of you couldn't handle the pressure and thought it best to just split up?"

Looking at Dwayne like he was crazy Paul stood up from his seat, "actually you couldn't be more wrong if you tried to actually be wrong. We didn't decide to split up, it was decided for us that we should split up."

Not wanting to stick around and listen to Dwayne try to justify anything that the other wrestlers did or said Paul walked away without so much as a second glance back at him.

Walking back up the ramp Paul was feeling a little tense and annoyed now so when a couple of the guys looked at him he glared at them and kept on walking until he heard his name. Stopping he turned to face them, "what now?"

"We just wanted to know what's going on with you and Stephanie?"

Rolling his eyes Paul tried to not punch any of them out, "why don't you look in the mirror and see what the mirror tells you? You gossip more than the Divas do and they most certainly gossip more than anybody should. If you don't want me to punch all of your lights out then I suggest that you wind your necks in and keep your noses out of my business."

Walking away from somebody for the second time in the past five minutes he felt his anger rising, if one more person asked him about his relationship with Stephanie then he would actually punch them and run the risk of getting reprimanded by Vince for it.

Walking backstage he was relieved when people parted like the red sea as he walked towards them, at least he wouldn't have to deal with any more stupid questions for the time being.

Walking towards catering he rolled his eyes when people turned to look at him but just grabbed himself a bottle of water before he made his way back to his locker room with Stephanie, it was apparently going to be his safe haven so he didn't lose his incredibly short temper.

Pushing the door open before he entered the room again he pushed the door shut behind him before he made his way over to the couch and flopped down on it opening the bottle of water and taking a long sip. It was only when he put the cap back on the bottle of water that he felt her eyes on him, turning his head slightly to the right he looked back at her, "what?"

She could tell by the footsteps that were walking towards the locker room that whoever it was was in a bad mood so when the footsteps stopped and the door got pushed open she turned her head to look and see who it was and when she saw Paul she wondered what had happened. Continuing to stare at him she waited for him to acknowledge her as he sat down and then opened his bottle of water and took a drink from it. It was only when he put the cap back on the bottle of water that he acknowledged her presence so she returned the favour, "what yourself?"

Raising his eyebrow at her he wondered what her odd behaviour was about, "you're the one looking at me oddly and acting kind of weird right now so how about you tell me."

Rolling her eyes she placed her laptop back on the coffee table properly before she turned fully to look at him, "okay let me put it like this. I could tell that when you were walking down the corridor you were in a bad mood, I could hear it in the way you were walking and now you're here acting kind of strange. What the hell happened when you ran out of here?"

"I didn't technically run out of here, I just thought it best to leave before Brian asked any questions or spread any rumours about this place because I've had enough of those to last me a lifetime."

Finally realising why he was in the mood he was in she nodded her head knowingly, "well it all makes more sense to me now. Who said what to you?"

Rolling his eyes he pulled her close to him wrapping his arms around her waist holding her against him, "well first Dwayne played dumb and made some stupid jokes about us splitting up and then insert random mid-carders asked what was going on between you and I. It's clear that everybody knows that Vince forced us to split up but they all seem to be fighting over who gets out of us first that we are split up, or supposedly anyway, and why we split up."

Making herself a little more comfortable on the couch in his arms Stephanie rubbed her hand on his chest, "ignore them, they have nothing better to do with their time than play God with our lives so just pretend they don't exist. You don't owe them shit so just ignore their silly little comments and soon they will get bored and move on to their next target."

"Well if they're not careful soon their next target will be on their face and my fist will be connecting with it."

Sniggering she leant up and pressed a soft kiss to the side of his mouth, "you can't do that because Vince would get mad and we don't like it when Vince gets mad because everybody suffers then." Pausing briefly whilst her brain processed what her mouth had just said, "you know what I take it back, punch as many people as you like, the angrier Vince gets the better my life will be."

Laughing he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, "you don't really mean that so I'm going to play nice and try not to punch anyone. You're going to have to help me though."

Not entirely convinced that she would like what was going on in his mind she pulled away a little and looked at him, "help you how?"

"Easy. You've got to keep my mind occupied and my hands busy."

Snorting she smacked his chest with her hand, "I won't even ask what you want to do with your hands because I'm sure it will be x-rated and not remotely close to being suitable to be broadcast even if there isn't anybody else around."

Pulling her close again he kissed the top of her head and randomly changed the subject, "I love you."

Closing her eyes she snuggled closer to him, "I love you too."

They may have been joking around and keeping things light-hearted but it only masked their bigger problem which was hiding their relationship and dealing with the people that don't want them together. They had to find a way to get by whilst still keeping their minds.