Author Note: Another wonderful response from the second chapter, thank you all for that. Special thanks to Kaidence(Guest), takerschick and Krys Jericho for the wonderful reviews. Special thanks also goes BGunna194, Crazychiksxxxx, arcangel12 and Mel76930 for becoming followers to this story. Onto the next chapter...hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think.

Chapter 3: Baby Steps

Once inside the Performance Center, the butterflies started fluttering in my stomach. My body was seriously betraying everything I was telling it to be doing. I could see him on the far side of the gym. He was pulling himself up on a bar, doing several chin-ups before dropping down to the ground only to repeat the process.

His hair was pulled up into a tight bun behind his head; but I could still see the two different colors that was uniquely him. My palms were beginning to sweat upon seeing the intense works out methods he was known for. Leaning against the wall, I continued to watch. I could remember every single workout session we ever had over the last few years, every single time he would help me get better in my regiment. "God, Savannah what were you thinking? This is such a bad idea." I mentally told myself.

I honestly didn't have anything to lose at this point. What was the worst that could happen? He couldn't hurt me anymore than Roman had. Watching him drop down to the floor, he stepped over to check him phone before turning to catch sight of me. He grabbed his towel and wiped his face clean of the sweat. "Sav, when did you get here?" He asked walking closer to me.

"I just got here." I replied not wanting to admit that I had been watching him, reminiscing.

"Why didn't you say something? I would have stopped."

"It's no big deal. I seriously just got here."

He raised a questioning eyebrow at me. I didn't think he believed me at all, which really didn't matter. He gave me a smile. Not one that he gave when he was okay with something; but one that meant he was truly happy about something. Was he happy that I was there? I guessed that it was a step in the right direction in a renewal of our friendship. If that was what he was aiming for.

His chocolate colored eyes connected with mine for a brief moment, serving its purpose in letting me think back on the past. Those eyes were always my safe haven when I felt out of place, when I needed comfort after a day that didn't go my way. It wasn't until later did I realize that he had no intention of wanting more than friendship from me and that had been perfectly okay with me, because Roman had already began showering me with attention by that time.

"Savannah..." He called.

"Hmm..." I replied snapping out of my own past thoughts.

"I am sorry about what Roman did to you..."

Boy, he didn't waste any time getting into the conversation that I really didn't want to talk about in the first place. Immediately turning away from him, I walked over to one of the treadmills intending to run everything away. The feeling of his hand taking hold of mine, made me stop dead in my tracks. My heart was pounding against my chest, not obeying my demands to calm down and remember what he did to me as well. It hadn't been just Roman to hurt me, he did too whether he wanted to admit that or not. "Don't apologize for it...I'm...I'm the one that didn't listen to your warnings..." I finally expressed pulling my hand out of his grasp.

"That's not your fault. You were so in love with him and my blatant insults and warnings were lost on you the second I opened my mouth. I should have talked to you better."

Looking back up at him, I could see his honesty reflecting back at me. I didn't know what to say to him to make him understand that I was still hurt by his abandonment, nor did I know what to tell him about Roman. There was so much I wanted to tell him; but I was so fearful of doing so. "Seth, can we...can we not talk about him please."

"Yeah...I won't push you."

"Thank you..."

"So what do you want to work on first?" He asked trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

At this question, I could finally relax. There was no one else in the gym but us. The NXT stars were out on the road in the Ohio area, which meant for a very private setting. I didn't want to come right out and tell him about my failing career; but I knew that I needed to do something to get their attention or I would never get anywhere. We had a little less than a month until Wrestlemania and I didn't want to be left out another show.

Walking over to the far wall, I placed my iPod on the small speaker radio. The music began to start with a simple touch of my finger on the screen. Avenged Sevenfold graced my ears and when I turned around Seth let out a soft chuckle at my expense. "You haven't changed at all." He commented running a hand over his head.

"Nope and I never will."

Slipping passed him, I dropped to the floor with my back against the rubber of the mat. Starting my sit-ups, I knew he was watching me and it made my insides flutter. It felt different this time around, not really the same as it had been before he walked away and I began to wonder if it always would feel awkward between us.

Seth

Watching her warm up brought back all the memories I had of us working out together. It was always a routine and one that I cherished more than a lot of things in my life. The familiarity of her light brown hair and hazel eyes pained me to think about what I threw away just nine months prior. It shouldn't have mattered that Roman had stolen her heart, I never should have left her.

I'll never understand why I did. The disappointment in the fact he had stolen her heart made me bitter with envy. In my eyes he never deserved someone like her. I had dealt with the relationship for four years, so it made no sense why I had been so fed up with it. The only logical explanation, at least to me, was that I had dormant feelings for her that never surfaced in time to prevent her heart from being shattered.

Could I tell her now, no. She just had her heart broken by someone she trusted for over four years. I was going to have to rebuild the trust she once held for me, which knowing her, was going to take quite some time to mend and I was willing to do anything to protect her heart from feeling the same way. "Are you warmed up yet?" I asked.

Leaping up to her feet, she turned to face me with a smile that could easily have any guy swooning over her. The fact that Roman just left her only seemed to anger me, to the point that I wished that I knew exactly what happened so I could have a one on one with him. Give him a piece of my mind; but she was right in the fact that she didn't tell me anything, probably figuring that I'd say something. "Yeah...I'm warmed up." She answered.

"So...what so you want to work on?" I asked again since she never gave me a straight answer the first time I asked.

"Spot me?"

Well that was a first. She never asked for a spot when lifting. Something was definitely different about her. The intensity in her eyes and even the fact that she did way more warms up than she used to through up a red flag for me. There had to be more to her actions that just speculation and because our trust was broken, I knew that she was never going to tell me what the problem was.

Not waiting for my response, she walked across the room to an empty bench. Taking off the weights that weren't needed, she laid back underneath the thick metal bar positioning her hands around it. "So why the sudden intensity?" I asked.

"This isn't really intense." She answered slightly colder than usual.

She continued to move her arms up and down, resting the bar against her chest with every lift. I knew she was lying. Another song passed by without her even saying a word. Reaching my hand out to stop her front lifting again, she sat up abruptly. "I know your lying. You've never acted this way before. Did he tell you something?"

"No..."

"Then what? Because the way your behaving, your going to burn yourself out. Your arms are quivering under the amount of pressure you just put on them lifting up and down that many times."

Fighting with her was not what I wanted to do; however, I needed her to understand what she was doing wasn't healthy either. Hurting herself over something someone said was not going to fly with me and I think she knew it to, because she couldn't even look me in the eye. "He didn't say anything to me. I just haven't been getting any time on Raw or Smackdown in over nine months. Stephanie said she doesn't like my look. I've been with the company a little over seven years and I've never had a title reign."

"Savannah..."

"How am I supposed to feel? This was supposed to be my dream and it's turned out to be my nightmare. Roman took the pain away and now that's hes gone...I've got nothing..."

She was on the verge of tears that much I knew. Kneeling down in front of her, trying to be careful of my still healing leg, I took her hands into mine. I never knew that it was this bad. She never talked about her position within the company before, not even when our friendship was close; so to hear her admit it now was completely surprising. "Listen to me...just because Roman isn't around anymore doesn't mean you don't have anything or anyone. You still have your friends and I highly doubt Becky would ever let you feel alone. She's got enough energy for two people."

Savannah laughed at my comment about Becky. Trying to concentrate on the conversation was getting harder when the warmth of her hands were under my own palms. I thought maybe my unresolved feelings for her would have faded with the time away; but as it turned out that wasn't the case. "I know that your skeptical of me..."

"Seth..."

"You have every reason to be. What I did...there is no excuse for that and I'm sorry."

She stared at me a moment, curling her bottom lip inward. A habit she always had when she was nervous about something. It was a habit I always found to be adorable. Pulling her hands out of mine, she stood up and took several steps away. "I appreciate the apology; but you have to understand that I'm not going to be able to just continue where it was before."

"I know...I didn't expect you to."

Shying away, she moved back towards the made she had done her warm ups on. Sitting down, her hair fell over her shoulders hiding her face from me. There was definitely more to her current state of mind than just the rejection from Stephanie, something that most definitely had to do with Roman. I wondered if she even talked about things with her friends.

I shifted to sit down next to her, keeping a decent amount of space between us. She pulled her legs up for her to hug against her chest. "I should be madder at you than I am. You left when I needed you to most and here I am talking to you...not once thinking of punching you in the face."

"You still could if you wanted to...it's not like I don't deserve it."

"It wouldn't change anything..."

She was really making it hard for me not to pull her into my arms and just hold her. She was not the same woman I remembered, not even close. What the hell did these people do to her in my absence? We sat there for what seemed like hours, not saying a word and the only thing I could think of was the day I knew I cared about her more than friend. The day her voice echoed across the entire living room of her condo. I still get goosebumps when I think of it.

"I should probably go..." Savannah finally spoke.

"Are you sure you don't want lunch?" I asked.

"Yeah...I should probably help Becky with her party tonight...you know how she is..."

"That I do..."

What else was going to tell her? Stay. I want to be near you again. That just wasn't going to work at this point in time; but that didn't mean I wasn't thinking it or even feeling it. She got up from the mat and took her iPod from the speaker. I followed suit, getting up from the floor to at least say goodbye to her properly. "So is it okay that I text you...you know to check up on ya?" I asked not knowing what else to do about the soon-to-be long distance.

"Yes, that will be perfectly fine."

"Good. I've...really missed this..."

She fell silent, giving a half smile in the process. I could tell that she didn't know how to answer my confession and that was okay, because at least she knew how I felt about it. I watched her pick up her bag and lift it up to her shoulder before turning back to face me directly. "Take care, Seth..." She stated starting to walk away.

"Savannah..."

"Yeah..."

"You take care of yourself."

Smiling, she tucked her head away and walked the rest of the way out of the center. I wasn't entirely sure that texting her was going to be enough for me. My suppressed feelings were already started to surface. I hated it knowing that she was still very much heartbroken over Roman. There was nothing I could do but be there for her when she needed it, if she let me be there.