Chapter 2! Enjoy and don't forget to review ;)

Monday Night RAW: Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena

Miz's POV

I walk through the black curtain as I just returned to Raw. Everything went according to plan, I missed that rush from the fans. The other three, Kofi, Ziggler, and Swagger-follow behind me and we all high-five each other. It felt good, hopefully the reception is the same. More of the crew welcome me back as I head towards the interview area for an impromptu promo.

Renee's there waiting.

"Welcome back, Mike!" she welcomes me as the commercials run. I give a smile to thank her and wait silently until they give us the go.

"Ladies and gentlemen, The Miz." Renee says as I enter, "now Miz, the we all just saw your return to Raw. What are your motives now that you're back?"

Here comes The Miz...

"Well Renee, I have huge plans coming in. And tonight I just wanted to make a statement. If Ziggler and Kofi are in my way then so be it. I'll run them down faster than anyone will ever expect. Then I'm charging for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, my former NXT Rookie, Daniel Bryan. Bryan, if you're watching, I want you to personally know that your 15 minutes of fame will be over thanks to yours truly. Because I'm The Miz, and I'm...awesome." I walk off and let a sigh out in my head. THAT FELT GREAT. The camera is off me which gives me the chance to high-five Renee too.

The television monitor on the left catches my attention. Paige is being shown walking to the ring for her match up next, I assume. Awesome, just in time.

I decide to grab a water bottle while I wait. Her opponent, Summer Rae, makes her entrance. She also worked on The Marine 4 with me; such a bright personality, pun definitely intended.

Brief yes or no questions with some of the other guys rush pass me. A few moments later, I see a ready Paige make her way to Gorilla. She's in the zone, I can see the passion in her eyes. I smile at her not caring if she notices me there or not. She's pacing and jumping to get herself pumped. Then, I see her head tilt in my direction where her eyes make contact. I'm still smiling and she throws a small one back.

"Good luck, have fun." I quickly say, hoping she heard it. Just as the last word escapes my mouth, her entrance music booms and the fans pop. Within that second, she's gone through the curtain.

I turn back to the monitor to watch her entrance. She's still not shining through with full persona but the thought of her being "new" understands. There it is again—that something I can't seem to get a hold of. A certain quality that makes me more and more intrigued by her. It's weird, but it feels like I want to know more. I want to be close friends with her and we just barely met. It's damn magnetic.

I hope Maryse doesn't think of this in a weird way... Shit. I forgot she always calls me after my match and I'm pretty sure I missed like 3 calls in the time I've been standing here after my promo. I make my way to the dressing room and bury into my bag for my cell to call back.

"Hey babe, sorry I wasn't answering. I was caught up in some talk with the guys." Best to not upset about what the real reason was.

"That's fine. You did and looked great out there! It was fun watching you."

"Thanks babe."

"Okay well I don't want to hold up too much of your time. Call me whenever you can, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll probably text you when I'm leaving the arena and call you when I get to the next city."

"Alright, sounds good. Je t'aime baby, muah!"

"I love you Maryse...okay, bye."

End call. I love that woman, my wife.

I stare around for a monitor in the room. There's one in the far corner and I can see the Divas match going. I make my way for a closer view and watch Paige's in-ring style. It's aggressive and unique. I see her scream a primal scream, that must be her essence coming to life. Her modified scorpion lock is killer! Summer taps out and that's the bell. As she's handed her Divas title, a familiar look takes over her expression. She almost seems clueless as to what she's supposed to do as the victor. I mean, it's subtle. Only a trained eye could really tell, but that's one of the things I could help her out on-her confidence.

I nod in satisfaction. Paige's wrestling is better than what the other Divas try so I commend her for that.

Hopefully, I can catch her before she leaves. I wasn't sure if I was going to actually talk to her again, but it's inevitable now—I want to.

Paige's POV

The show is done and we're all wrapping up to move to the next city! We were in Knoxville tonight and now we're all headed to Atlanta for SmackDown. I was pleased with my match against Summer, she's one of my favorite opponents. The energy felt so great out there. But I know I still have so much room for improvement.

I pack my bag, all suited up as I wait for Emma. We travel together, but she's the one driving this week.

Leaving the Divas locker room, the backstage area is nearly empty. All of the big trunk containers are being rolled out into the equipment trucks. I stand in the middle of it all, still waiting. I dig into my pocket to check my phone. A bunch of missed calls, it's the norm these days.

"RamPaige!" Hands behind jolt into my back as I almost drop my phone.

I let out a loud yelp. "Holy shit!"

The mystery surprise-r gets into my line of vision and it's The Miz. The beat of my heart goes from a rapid hummingbird to a ticking-clock in a matter of seconds.

I feel myself blush. He looks fresh and clean with his crisp shirt and dark jeans. I notice his hair slicked back, but it's shorter than it was before he left. Probably because of the movie he had to film.

"Sorry if I made you shit your pants there!" He laughs as I blush even harder. I didn't, but I who says I wasn't close to?

"No, it's fine! These are my bad pants anyway!" I say to rebuttal, and we both laugh comfortably. How is it so easy to talk to him like this?

"So I watched your match. I gotta say, kudos to your wrestling, girl. It's great!"

I smile at his complimentary words. I've heard it a bunch of instances before, but it humbles me every time.

"Thanks Miz! That means a lot to me."

"You can call me Mike, if you want. You probably won't because Miz just sounds cooler."

It's true, I'll probably call him Miz for the rest of it.

He comes closer to me, until our bodies are about a foot apart.

"But other than that, I just wanted to tell you that I'm willing to give you any advice. I'm here if you need me to be. I'm sure the other guys are busy with what they have to do to talk to the rest of the new talent, but I'm open to you. "

That stops everything. Miz's words are so genuine, it's powerful. A ball of fire rises in my stomach like nothing I've ever felt before. His blue eyes are still locked directly on mine, but it's difficult to return such a soft look like that to him. The feeling in my stomach has reached into every vein and the heat is overwhelming. It feels like a mix of anxiety and excitement all at once. I just want to drop everything and give him a hug.

And so I do.

My toes are on the tips to reach him as my arms go around his thick neck and shoulders. At first, I can feel his hesitancy but I don't let go.

The words are stuck in my throat but I manage to let out what I want to say, "I've never had someone like you care for me...thank you."

I'm on the verge of tears and I probably look like an idiot but that doesn't matter. I feel his arms wrap around my back and I smile in relief, with my chin digging into his left trap muscle.

"You're absolutely welcome, sweetheart. It's really the least I can do."

His voice is the softest I've heard it. It's usually so over the top Miz, but in this moment it's Mike. I slowly pull my arms away as he does the same. A single tear drops from my eye and I quickly wipe it away before he sees it.

"Aww, Saraya," too late, "it's just me. It's not like I'm Shawn Michaels or anything."

"Shawn Michaels or not, I don't care. It's just the thought that counts. You didn't have to introduce yourself to me tonight, but you did. You didn't have to give me any attention at all, but you did."

I'm trying my best to let that one tear be the only one, but saying these words to him is making my sight blurry with emotion. I sniffle and wipe it off with my jacket sleeve.

His smile warms me again.

"I'm going to make sure you learn new things from me every day. And you know, a fair trade-off would be you showing me that scorpion lock."

The image of him trying my submission on another opponent is enough to make me giggle.

"All right? So no more tears. I can't stand when girls cry in front of me. I feel so helpless."

Miz throws an arm over my shoulder as we walk to the parking lot together. If Emma's still back there, she can take her time because I'm in no hurry at all.

Next chapter will be up either Wednesday or Thursday :)