Therealchamps, thank you for your amazingness. Happy readings all! :D

Randy found himself walking down the same hallway he last saw Alyssa. The same bright lights filled his view which brought no contrast to the bare white walls. There were people walking everywhere, and not to mention, there were mounds of tech equipment of all sizes looming random corners. He didn't like being back here. It made him feel claustrophobic. Unfortunately, the path was inevitable. It was the way to the main stage, and it was also the way to Candy's office. He hadn't decided which location he'd target first, but the long walk gave him time to decide. It also gave him too much time to remember what happened. No one witnessed the altercation, but his red eyes and wounded-again hand provided evidence.

That talk was the hardest thing he's ever had to do. Not only did he finally profess his true feelings but he had to walk away from Alyssa. It might as well have been him digging his own grave. In a sense, that's what it was. He was cutting off a part of himself–arguably the biggest part of him–to focus on something else. Essentially, it was also to be somebody else. Thankfully, there was another side of him he's enjoyed being. The person he was around Candy was someone he wanted to continue to be. She made him feel something different, and he knew he'd be a fool to let her go. So, he found himself knocking on her door.

As he waited, Randy placed his stained hand behind his shirt. His legs were bare and free of covering since he was dressed to wrestle. He knew he didn't have much time until his match, but he couldn't wait to see Candy. The door clicked open in front of him and she appeared, almost knocking his mental state off balance. Even with the blank look on her face, she stunned in her black fitted dress. Her brown locks were placed in a loose bun, with a couple strands framing her cheeks.

"I miss you," he said. "Let me take you out tonight."

Candy narrowed her eyes to study his expression. Removing her hand from the door, causing her bracelet to jingle, she crossed her arms and leaned more weight on one heel. "How do I know this time will be better?"

"Because I want to make us better. Can you please give me another chance?"

Hearing him say 'us' made her lose all resolve, but Candy didn't let him see that. Instead, she enveloped her emotions and shrugged.

"I'm sorry for ever making you feel bad. Let me make it up to you. Please, Cands?" Randy reached over to cup her elbow.

The brunette uncrossed her arms to release his hold. "Uhh, I guess, why not?"

Randy's mood immediately perked up. He gracefully moved forward to kiss her on the cheek. "Great. I'll come by your office to drive us out of the arena after the show. I gotta head to my match now, but I'll see you soon okay?"

"Okay," she said. She watched him look back at her two more times before allowing herself to finally grin.

"Hey busy woman, got time to pencil me in?"

"Of course." Alyssa looked up from her Excel spreadsheet and smiled sheepishly.

It was then that John noticed her eyes, red and puffy in a minuscule way, but still red and puffy nonetheless. This prompted him to take a seat beside the desk. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Now that you're here, everything's even better," she said. She closed the lid to her Macbook before placing a hand over his chest. Her eyes immediately fell to his flashy shirt. It was always interesting seeing his face below his real face. "Revealing new merch today, huh?"

John looked down and nodded. He was excited for the new gear, but he couldn't help but be skeptical of his girlfriend's façade. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off. She talked like she was okay, but she didn't sound okay. However, the last thing he wanted to do was push her. So, for now, he decided to ignore whatever it was she was ignoring. "Yup, new gear, as if I wasn't charming enough."

"Oh how will the people ever contain themselves," Alyssa feigned shock. She moved her hand upwards to caress his cheek. Her well-manicured thumb looked miniature spanned across his face.

John simply stared. She was beautiful even with the tinge of sadness in her features. The skin around her eyes didn't crease as she smiled, and even in her smile, there was a forceful nature to it. He wondered when she'd tell him her darkened thoughts– ones she often shied away from but was still haunted by. He wondered if Randy ever had these same anticipations or if she always presented him with unguarded thoughts. Were they closer in that sense? Alyssa always told John that he had a part of her no one had, but did Randy have a part of her he didn't have?

"You're staring at me," Alyssa said.

John reached up to run his hand down the length of her tied up hair. He began twisting his fingers around it. "I always do."

"Well…why don't you go do something else."

He released her hair from his grip. "Want me to leave?"

Alyssa's eyes wandered to the door. "This room doesn't have a lock."

John watched her abandon her seat to move closer towards him.

"But we do have chairs to block it."

"Indeed we do." John nodded and considered her innuendo. He didn't wait to be asked twice before grabbing his chair to wedge it below the doorknob. "There. Makeshift lock for your makeshift office. What do you wanna do now? Graffiti the wall? Steal some furniture?"

"I want you to…" Alyssa swayed her hips closer to him as she undid her pony tail. This pushed both of them towards the wall. "Make love to me."

John smiled at the notion and pulled her even closer. Her breath was hot all over him. Anything, absolutely anything to make this woman feel good, he would do it.

"Up until the minute before your match."

John combed his fingers through her hair, almost getting the brown strands in knots. His own skin was beginning to heat up. "Hmm. That's about an hour from now."

"Mm hmm," Alyssa grazed her lips against his. "That's why we should get started."

"I got real lucky tonight," John said. He was in the middle of emptying out his duffle bag when he turned to smirk at his girlfriend. By now she was only in her panties with a smirk of her own.

"Oh yeah? How many times exactly?" She pulled his new shirt down her body to cover up. The breeze outside couldn't filter out of their room; she needed the layer.

"Just once when I had a tag team match."

"Oh? You must've had quite the partner." She flopped onto the bed causing her hair to fan across the pillow.

John moved across the room and immediately went on top of her for the umpteen time. He braced himself on his elbows, careful not to crush her. "Yeah, unlike someone, he didn't risk me getting in trouble at work."

"Oh? Is that a complaint?"

John smiled and kissed her. "Don't be so silly. I would never complain about making love to you."

Alyssa trailed her fingertips along the muscular curves of his back. "Mm, that's what I thought."

"But in all seriousness, I was damn glad to have that tag team match. I didn't have as much energy. I never work out right before a live segment."

"And you never really do anything personal during work. So… I think I'm sorry for instigating?"

John leaned down to kiss her playful pout. "Nah, I had a lot of fun."

"Me too." Alyssa looked up at the top of his head and started playing his buzzed scalp. She bit her lip as her eyes traveled back to John's. "But now I kinda wanted to talk to you about something."

"What's up?" John gently ran his fingertips along her cheek to mask his excitement. He'd secretly been hoping for this all night.

"I um…I had a talk… or should I say Randy had a talk with me earlier."

"Okay," John said softly.

"Basically… he told me that we shouldn't be in each other's lives anymore. That its been ruining everything else, and he needs to let me go."

"Do you agree with that?"

"I understand, but I still don't agree completely. He said that although our relationship ended years ago, his feelings for me never really did."

"He said that?"

"In a big way, yes, he did." Alyssa nodded.

"Did you have any idea?"

"Honestly… I was never really too concerned. I thought we've both moved on and accepted that we're only best friends."

"But I guess what he's trying to say is that being best friends hasn't really worked out."

"But after all these years, he says this now?"

"Well, things are a lot different now. He's not with Sam. His two best friends are dating. He almost ruined it for you and me. Clearly, his feelings have made him act in ways he's not supposed to as a best friend."

"Yeah…you're right. It's just sad to know that I either have to be more than a best friend or nothing at all."

"He tried to make it work otherwise."

Alyssa cupped the back of John's head and smiled.

"You're gonna be okay, baby."

"Thank you. Thank you for listening and understanding." Alyssa nuzzled her scrunched nose against his then pecked his lips.

"Thank you-" John kissed her back, "-for telling me."

"I knew I wanted to tell you. I just didn't wanna at work."

"Mmm, well I like what you decided on doing with me instead." He kissed her soft lips again. "But can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Has Randy been on your mind a lot today?"

"Yeah," Alyssa said. The guilt didn't keep her from answering the truth immediately.

"Understandable." John rested his chin above her chest. "Did he cross your mind at all in that hour before my match?"

"No," she said definitely. "I promise you, you were the only one I thought of as soon as you stepped into that room."

John smiled, pleased.

Alyssa kissed his lips and ignored that fact that the rest of the time, it was Randy she was thinking of.

"Thank you for agreeing to have dinner with me tonight," Randy said.

"Yeah, well, you were gonna eat and I was gonna eat. Figured I might as well let you pay for me." Candy flashed him a playful stare before bringing food to her mouth.

Ever since Randy first came to her office that day–which he did a total of four times–she'd been more cheerful and happy. Initially, it'd been her plan to play hard-to-get, but she quickly realized there were more fun things to do with Randy. Deliberately pretending to want to keep him at arms length was not one of them. She liked having him close, very close in fact, and now that he's expressed the same, there was nothing holding them back.

"I've really missed you, Candy."

"You told me that already," she said, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"I mean it. I don't wanna have to wonder if you'll be around or not."

She cupped her wine glass and brought it to her lips. "Mmm, well I was around for awhile wasn't I? Until you started doing and saying bad things to me."

"I know, I see where I could've been better to you."

She took a sip of the red wine and shrugged. "Treat me like I'm single, and I'll act like I'm single."

"Ah. Okay, okay." Randy considered that thought. "So it wasn't just sex with us?"

"Well let's see," Candy paused to take another sip. "We did a lot, and I mean a lot, of that, but we did other things too. We talked. We ate. We went on walks. We had picnics. We watched movies. We slept without having sex. I mean, granted, that only happened once, but still."

Randy chuckled. He couldn't deny those moments. "Like I said, I don't wanna have to wonder."

For some reason, Candy's heart began to patter. She slowly set the glass down but kept her hands curled around it for support. She watched as Randy pulled something out of his back pocket.

"This," Randy held up two silver items. "I want you to have. They're the keys to my bus and my house."

"Woah. So serious, so suddenly?"

"Yeah, I am. I've realized a lot recently. I have this wonderful woman right in front of me, and I don't need any more time to know I wanna keep her around."

Candy held her breath as the beating in her chest grew steadfast.

"I want you to be my girlfriend, Candy. Will you?" He stretched his hand across the table to hand her the keys.

She shifted her eyes to the dangling metal in front of her and without hesitation, she smiled and took it.