Author Note: Another wonderful receptions! Thank you so much! I apologize for the cliffhanger, there won't be one in this one. The OC Krystle belongs to fellow author Krys Jericho. Thanks for letting me use her once again.

Special thanks goes to: NESSAANCALIME6913, Ctinaisfashion, Pinayprincesa, purple chick29, and takerschick for the wonderful reviews.

Special thanks goes to: NutellaToast, maryb1439, The Lion of Darkness, bella315, martham73, edwardlovinmom, and devil's angel 19 for becoming followers to this story.

Chapter 5: Day From Hell (Part 2)

Seth

"Why is it your favorite?"

The message lingered in my hand just waiting for a response. I had no idea what to tell her that wouldn't scare her away or think that I was flirting, even though I kind of was. She's been through enough with Roman's abandonment and with the company not utilizing her at all, she didn't need me flirting with her as an added emotional bonus.

Looking at the time at the corner of my phone, I realized that she was probably heading back to Becky's for the start of the party. It had become a thing whenever the company was in Orlando, which might be two or three times a year, Becky always had a party at her residency. While she had been in NXT, Savannah stayed at her place if the main roster was in town.

The urge to attend that party was overpowering my rational thought process. I wanted to see her again, despite the fact that I had just spent time with her earlier in the day. There was always that chance she'd use that beautiful voice. Just the thought of that alone, gave me the answer I needed. I was going to that party regardless if I was welcome or not.

There was no doubt in my mind that Becky was going to be furious at me for even attempting; but there was worse things than my attendance. Roman's presence for instance. I knew how his mind worked. He was always game for a free beer and her party was the easiest way to get that. My blood boiled thinking about him and what he's done to destroy Savannah's smile.

"Look at how happy you look. Your smile is why it's my favorite."

I sent the message hoping it didn't sound too flirtatious, that was not what I was going for. Pulling back my wet hair, I went for the door when my phone vibrated from inside the pocket of my shorts. Walking down to my rental, Bayley and Carmella were leaving the performance center. Most likely heading for Becky's party as well.

No matter how much I wanted to be there, there was the backlash I'd receive for doing so. It wasn't just Becky that would have a problem with it, Sasha would as well. Not to mention that new backstage interviewer named Krystle. She's seemed close with Savannah as well. Sitting behind the wheel, I just stared out into the emptiness.

"Should I go?" I asked myself.

Reaching down for the my phone, the familiar blue light flashed indicating a message of some form waiting for my attention. Opening it up, "Can I asked you something?" Savannah's message read.

Now she had me panicking. Did she think of something else that would keep her even further away from me? If that was the case, I was going to have to work even harder to regain her trust. Knowing who she was, trust was something earned...not given. "Of course." I replied leaning back in the seat.

"Becky asked me to do one song tonight. I don't know if I have it in me to do it. Should I just do it anyway?"

So my thought of her singing tonight was accurate. It made me even angrier to know that she doubted herself in a talent she loved, because Roman broke her heart. I could understand if she did something wrong; but as far as I knew, she hadn't and I was to the point that I just wanted to take away her pain. Give her something to look forward to. "I think you should. You love doing it."

Sitting my phone back down into the cup holder, I shoved my keys into the ignition and started it up. I didn't care what backlash I'd receive when I got there; but there was no way I was going to miss a chance to see it for myself.

Savannah

I leaned against the counter with my phone in my hands reading the message Seth had given me. He was telling me exactly what I knew he'd tell me. Out of all the people I socialized with, Seth was probably the most supportive in that aspect. Roman never really cared one way or the other, which was something we would argue about from time to time over the years.

The music was loud enough that it vibrated the speakers. I wondered how long it was going to take to have the noise complaints start up. In my opinion, Becky threw these parties like twice a year and her neighbors should just deal with it. It's not like we were hurting anyone with loud music. An orange-red blur flew passed me as Becky was chaotically getting more drinks out of the fridge for the growing crowd of people.

"Are you going to go have fun or are you just going to stand there moping?" Becky asked me quickly sitting out a bottle of Vodka on the table next to her.

"I'm not moping." I countered.

"Oh yes you are! You've been leaning on that counter since we got here playing with that damn phone."

Straightening up, I turned slightly only to see Roman walked through the front door. Dean immediately greeted him with a half hug and a fist bump. My night was already shot and it wasn't even midnight yet. Grabbing the bottle of spiced rum from Becky's hand, I poured myself a shot and instantly drank it. There was no way I could deal with him sober.

"Take it easy...no need to get wasted already." Sasha scolded taking the bottle back from my hand.

"Well too bad!" I snapped snatching the bottle back.

Sasha glared at me for a moment before seeing for herself why I was acting the way I was. She asked why he was even there; of course, we all knew why. It was for the free alcohol and the enjoyment of torturing me. Pouring myself another shot, I spied Krystle making her way in wearing her traditional non-work clothes. Jeans and a band t-shirt. Her dark skin always complimented the look so well.

Before the smile could form on her face, Roman's image caught her attention. Moving around the growing crowd surrounding him, she approached me. "What the hell is he doing here?" She asked pointing at him, not caring if anyone saw it.

"Beats me." I shrugged tilted my head back to let the rum burn the inside of my throat.

"Are you going to make him leave?" She fired back.

"What's the point? He isn't gonna listen."

I was about to pour my third shot, before Krys took the bottle. It was odd for her to take booze away from me, considering her own crappy past with men. She'd be the one to sit there and drink with me until we passed out on the floor. "What are you doing?" I asked eying her harshly.

"Making sure you're sober enough not to go home with him tonight." She responded walking away with the bottle of rum in hand.

I almost cursed out loud. Instead, I walked out the door to get some fresh air. It didn't take long before I felt someone following me. When I got to my car, I turned around to see Roman standing there with a beer in his left hand. He gave me a smile that got my stomach fluttering. "What are you doing out here?" I asked opening my trunk.

"Checking on you." He answered as-a-matter-of-factually.

"Don't give me that shit. You could care less about what I'm doing."

"Why are you being such a bitch right now? I've been trying to stay friends with you."

I pulled out a large black bag and swung it over my shoulder. Inside, it contained my guitar and he knew it because he raised his eyebrow up. His continuous act like nothing is wrong was seriously annoying the hell out of me. I've accepted the fact that he no longer wanted to be with me; but what I didn't understand was why try to stay friends?

Slamming the door to my truck down, I turned to look him dead in the eyes. "Probably because you can't be honest with me." I replied stepping away from him. In an instant, he took a firm grip on my wrist.

"I have been honest with you. What more do you want?"

"You seriously think I believe you? Tell me the truth as to why you left me and then maybe I'll consider staying friends."

He couldn't say anything else in that moment, because I ripped my arm away and continued on back up to the party. In those few moment of storming away, I wanted to cry. I hated that he had that effect one me. I hated how he could so easily break me.

Walking back into the party, Becky smiled when she saw me carrying in my guitar bag. Krys approached me with a glass of red wine. I sat down on the edge of the couch tuning the instrument up to perfection. Looking at her, I never envisioned her to be a wine drinker; but that was what she was. "What's up? I know you want to say something." I stated looking up from the knobs.

"Are you alright? You seemed more upset when you came back in than when you left."

"Roman followed me. We argued a little and then I walked away. There isn't much to tell."

"Sweetie, I'm worried about you. Becky said you've been acting weird all day."

Great, now my friends talk about me with each other. What did they expect from me? I was in a four year relationship with someone I thought I'd end up marrying and then all of a sudden it crumbled right in front of my face without any indication that something was wrong. I was doing my best to move on with my life and there was just going to be days were my emotions were going to take over. "I've been texting an old friend. No reason to worry."

"You don't mean..."

"Seth, yes."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. He left you high and dry when you needed him the most."

She didn't need to remind me of that awful day; but what she didn't know was that he was trying to make up for that. He knew that Roman would break my heart and I simply didn't listen. I can't fault him for that. "Don't say anything to Sasha and Becky yet. Let me tell them...they are walking on eggshells around me as it is."

"Savannah Nicole..."

"Please." I interrupted her scolding of my full name.

"Oh alright..."

I immediately hugged her tightly. As she wrapped her arms around me, Roman walked back in. Did he really think sticking around would make a difference? Brushing it aside, I turned the music off. Everyone turned towards me, anticipating what they knew was coming and if they didn't know...they were about to.

There was no microphone, no hook-ups to make the sound louder. It was just my fingers strumming along the strings, creating the mirrored sound of a song I held very dear to my heart. I even gave an extra long introduction just to by some time for others to pay attention if they wanted to. What I didn't expect was for Seth to walk right through the front door and catch my eyes with his own.

"I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed

Oh god, it feels like forever

But no one ever tells you that forever feels like home

Sitting all alone inside your head"

My fingers continued to create the music and my voice told the story of the song. I could see that Becky noticed Seth's presence. Thankfully she didn't make a quick scene about it while I was pouring my heart out. I knew why he came and it made my insides flutter. Though, she didn't know that he came to see me.

His eyes lingered on me, sending chills across my sensitive skin. I enjoyed the feeling as much as I didn't want to admit it. Holding out the last note, Roman stormed in Seth's direction. Sitting my guitar down on the couch, I flipped the music back on before quickly getting to the two combustible elements in the room.

"Why the fuck are you here?" Roman snapped, clenching his beer-free hand into a fist at his side.

"Why else would I be here? I came to see Savannah." Seth replied not backing down in the least.

"Hey! Don't start this shit in here." I stated.

"So you wait until I break up with her to come crawling back into her life. In hopes that you'll get lucky this time."

By this time everyone was watching them argue. I honestly didn't know what to say to get them to stop. Becky and Sasha looked at me with disapproving looks upon their faces. I should have known that they wouldn't be very happy with Seth being around again. "Enough! Roman, you have no say in the things I do or the people I talk to. You lost that right the moment you walked away."

"Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when he tears you pieces." Roman retorted storming out of the apartment.

Seth turned to look at me sympathetically. He knew what chaos he had created by coming there. Becky was at my side in a heartbeat, pulling me away from him. The harsh glare emanating from her soft brown eyes actually scared me a little. "Are you out of your mind?" She asked in a stern whisper.

"I didn't know he was going to show up. I just recently started talking to him again."

"Savannah..."

"Can you just trust me, please?"

Letting out a sigh, Becky nodded hesitantly. I knew it was going to take some time for her to get used to the idea of Seth being a friend again; but I couldn't bare the thought of her being angry with me forever because of my decision. Grabbing the bottle of rum Krys had taken away from me earlier, I raise it up getting Seth's attention. He smiled and proceeded towards me.

"I'm sorry about that with Roman." He apologized.

"Don't worry about it." I replied poured him and I a shot.

"He ruined the end of the song."

Becky just hung back and listened to him talk. It didn't take long for Sasha and Krys to join in the conversation. Being the ever nosy friends they were. I could see Seth tense up the second they began to crowd around us. "He's ruined a lot of things. Why would that be any different?" I commented sucking back the shot.

Seth

I could tell Savannah was at the brink of explosion. The harsh glares coming from her friends in my direction was not in the least bit comforting, though I expected as much from them. Becky especially. She was extremely protective of Savannah, just like a sister would be. Everything I got was worth it, because I was standing next to the woman that I let get away.

Her light brown hair was laying across her back in tight curls reaching just above her waist. I knew that I shouldn't be staring at her; but I couldn't help it. Her legs were long and shaped with the perfect amount of muscle. She was beautiful then and she was certainly beautiful now.

"Don't let him ruin your night, Sav." Becky stated pouring her own shot from the rum bottle.

"I just...I don't know. I don't get why he thinks its okay to break up with me and act like he can still tell me what I should or shouldn't be doing." She replied turning to wave at several people leaving.

She was always well liked in the locker-room, so it never made much sense to me why Stephanie and Hunter never pushed her. The alcohol was starting to take effect on her body. She swayed with movement and her speech was beginning to slur. The brightness of her hazel eyes were now glazed over with a certain cloudiness that came with intoxication. "We all know he was in the wrong tonight." Sasha stated.

"Thanks..." Savannah replied

"Okay! You're cut off. You need to sleep it off." Becky piped in taking the bottle once again from her best friend's hands, obviously annoyed with how her friend was behaving.

"I..I'm...fine..."

"Like hell you are. No driving for you either." Krys said reaching for her set of keys that was most definitely hers. The Final Fantasy Seven key chain was a dead giveaway.

She held them close before dropping them in front of me. I looked up, instantly wondering why she had given them to me. The three women stood next to each other, staring right at me. "You've the most sober out of all of us. Take her back and make sure she gets to bed safely and if you take advantage of her, I will hunt you down and kick your ass myself." Becky said in a threatening voice. One I knew all too well.

"What are you guys...talkin' 'bout?" Savannah asked getting worse as the minutes passed by.

"Nothing, just get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." Becky answered placing an arm around her, pulling her close.

As she let go, Savannah stumbled backward. I caught her, steadying her legs from giving out. She pulled away and walked towards the front door, while I followed closely behind her. Getting her inside the car was easy enough, it was getting her out that was the biggest problem. She was tired and so close to passing out on her own; but refused my help in getting her to the room she occupied.

Her fingers fumbled a couple of times with the key to the room door before she finally got it opened. I hovered behind her, contemplating staying with her long enough to see that she was asleep. She collapsed back-first onto the bed, not caring that she was still fully dressed. "Why did you come tonight?" She asked softly.

"I wanted to see you use that voice again." I answered honestly; but I left out the parts where I just wanted to see her in general.

She curled her legs up against her stomach, rolling onto her side. It was then that I heard the sobs. She was crying. This was something entirely new for me. She never once cried in front of me, not even when she sprained her ankle a year or so ago. I took several hesitant steps in her direction, trying to find things to say to her; but it was her that spoke first. "He cheated...he had to of..."

"Savannah..."

"There is no other logical answer."

I sat down next to her. The tears had streaked her make-up to run black streams down her face. She buried her face in her arms, hiding away from me. Out of reflex, I placed a hand on her arm gently. The softness of her skin burned under my palm and if I wasn't careful I'd eventually want more. "There is no need to think about it. He will never tell you if he had or not. You need to concentrate on yourself and the things that make you happy."

She uncovered her face and sat up, wiping the tears away. I didn't know how to convince her that she would be fine, that Roman didn't matter anymore. Wordlessly, she slid over and rested her head on my lap. To my surprise, her hand gripped the material of my shorts. "I'm sorry that I caused chaos tonight." I apologized.

"You did nothing wrong. You came for me and that took guts considering how my friends feel about you. I'm actually surprised they didn't say anything to you."

"I'm sure they wanted to."

I brushed against the bare skin of stomach, where her shirt had ridden up, with the back of my hand. The emotions swelled up again from within. She was driving me crazy being this close. The best thing was for me to leave, because at this point all I wanted to do was kiss her. "Thank you..." She said in an almost whisper.

"For what?"

"For being there. When Roman showed up, I honestly didn't know if I could handle it; so thank you for showing up."

"You're welcome."

Her breathing deepened after several moments of silence and I realized that she had officially passed out from the alcohol. Smiling, I gently moved her head from my lap to rest of the mattress. Watching her sleep in those few minutes, my body begged me to lay with her and hold her; but my brain advised me against it. She was still fragile from the recent heartbreak. Leaning down, I placed my lips against her temple before backing away. "Sleep well princess..." I whispered before leaving the room, locking it behind me.

End Note: The lyrics present in this chapter belong to the band Stone Sour. It's from the song 'Through Glass'