Author Note: The last chapter was obviously one that didn't go over very well with a lot of you; but I also know that I can't please everyone, no matter how hard I try to. With that being said, there are things coming up in the next few chapters that will change a lot of things for certain characters. I hope you all stick around and continue reading. Onto the next installment and let me know what you think.

A special thanks goes to: bella315, Levesque-Rollins823, rkosgirl1 and Leasha Ambrose for the reviews.

Another special thanks goes to MissMoxley and BrookeLiz3326 for becoming followers to this story.

Chapter 24: Ready and Able

Savannah

Shifting my body, slightly stretching out before opening my eyes. Once they did open, I was greeted pleasantly by Seth's sleeping form. He looked so peaceful snuggled into the pillow. The memory of our outing and the events after caused heat to creep back to my cheeks. He had taken his time to make sure that I was taken care of, which was rare in the male gender. The dinner was a wonderful surprise and one that I had always wanted to do. Our dance was ever better, just having him hold onto me as we moved with the music was a wonderful dream come true. Of course, the after events were beyond thrilling.

Rolling over to sneak out of bed without disturbing him, I slid across the bed gently. Still naked, I tip-toed across the room towards the bathroom for my robe. The soft material caressed my skin the second I slipped it on. Quickly tying it closed around my waist, I walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. My phone flashed green, which meant it was fully charged. There were a couple messages waiting for me. No surprise there; but the biggest surprise was that they were all from Becky. Nothing from my sister, like I had hoped for.

"We should talk. There are things I need to tell you." That was just message one.

"Savannah, do you think you can come back with Seth?" Message two.

"I miss you." Message three.

Something was wrong. I could tell just by the frequency of the messages. Even if I wasn't completed with my training, maybe I could convince Hunter to let me come back for a day or two. I'm sure there was a lot I've missed since I've been gone. I wondered how everyone was fairing with the rumors of a draft. In my experience, something like that generally wasn't a rumor at all. It was just a mental preparation of what was to come. "I miss you to. I'll see what I can do." I replied and hit the send button.

Weaving through the kitchen and around the island, I opened the cupboard for the coffee grounds. I needed a much needed boost in energy if I hoped to be of any worth at the Performance Center today. The clock on the stove read 7:55 am. It was drawing closer to when Seth would have to leave. That thought hurt. I wasn't ready to let him go yet.

Measuring out the grounds, I dumped them into the filter and hit the button to start brewing it up. Humming softly to myself, I leaned against the counter looking out the window. Being so engulfed in the view, I never heard Seth come into the kitchen until his arms wrapped around my waist from behind. "You are so beautiful." He whispered kissing my collarbone.

Leaning back into him, I tilted my head to meet his loving gaze. Just looking at him was enough to know that we have overcome a lot just to get where we were. I never thought after Roman breaking my heart that I'd ever be able to love again. Boy was I ever wrong. Seth never left my heart no matter what I did, he dug in and never let go. "I don't want you to leave..." I admitted allowing him to stroke the skin of my cheek.

"I know. Hell, I don't either; but we will find out today if you can come with me." He replied being the optimist that he was.

I really wanted to go with him. That was where I belonged. I wanted to be in that ring again, pouring my heart out to the fans. He let go of me and proceeded towards the coffee pot that had just finished brewing. Grabbing two mugs from the dish drainer, he poured the black liquid into both. Moving across the counter for the sugar and opened the refrigerator for the milk, he put two teaspoons of sugar and a splash of milk into mine. He knew exactly how I liked my coffee and all I could do was smile when he handed me the cup. "Thank you."

"Have you heard from Becky at all?" He asked.

"Uh...yeah...she messaged me a couple times in the middle of the night. She asked me to come on the road, that she needed to tell me something. Why?"

Taking a sip of his coffee, his shirtless body was a clear distraction from what we conversing about. A flash of his body on mine appeared behind my eyes, creating more heat only this time it was between my legs. Mentally cursing him for being such a beautiful distraction, I took a sip of my own coffee to drown the inner thoughts that shouldn't be there. "I'm kind of worried about her. She messaged me just before we left last night for dinner. She told me to keep an eye on you."

"Why would she tell you that?"

"Beats me; but she did seem off the last few days."

That wasn't comforting in the least. She's been alone since Sasha got the concussion and hasn't been allowed to be on the road. I hated it even more now that I wasn't around either. Seth and Dean were the only ones to keep her company. With Seth not there and Dean doing god knows what, it worried me even more. She was pretty social and didn't like to be alone. My mind was made up. Regardless of what the decision was, I was still going back. My best friend needs me and I wasn't about to let her down...again.

"Savannah..." Seth called.

"Huh..."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Becky...I'm going to come back no matter what the verdict is. She needs me and I'm not going to abandon her...not this time..."

His facial expression said it all. He knew exactly what I was getting at. In the early stages of my friendships with Seth, Roman and Dean...Becky had just got left by her boyfriend at the time. They had been together for a few years and out of nowhere he up and left her for some young blonde wannabe journalist. It broke her heart and I had been selfish...not wanting to stop hanging out with the boys to comfort her. It was the first of many mistakes I've made in my life.

Seth closed the distance between us and took the cup out of my hands to hold them in his own. "Listen, you made a human mistake and she's already forgiven you for it a long time ago. Don't dwell on it. Just be there for her now." He expressed before dipping down to kiss my forehead.

It seemed like time just passed us by, because we were pulling into the performance center. My hand gripped the straps of my bag tightly, almost turning my knuckles white. The verdict was only moments away and the butterflies in my stomach were fluttering endlessly without a stop in sight. Seth's hand rested on my upper thigh, rubbing the bare skin gently. "Relax, Sav. There is nothing to worry about." He said putting the car into park.

"I'm not worried about this...nervous that's all."

"Well don't be. It will be just fine."

He leaned across the center console to capture my lips. The kiss ended just as quickly as it started, which disappointed me; but I also knew that I had to get there. Amelia was not exactly a patient person. She definitely got that from our mother. She was in the ring when we walked in, doing her own workout system on someone I didn't recognize. Was she teaching someone else already?

"Amelia!" I shouted.

"Take five." She responded to the young woman in the ring with her.

Amelia jumped down from the apron to greet me with a hug. Her long hair was pulled back in ponytail which didn't hide the growing bruise on her shoulder very well. Training took a lot out of the teacher as well as the student sometimes. "How did everything go last night?" She asked giving me a sly smile.

"Lia, we can talk about it later. Now isn't the time." I answered.

"Yeah yeah, you're here to find out what Hunter said about you."

I didn't have to answer her for her to understand. She lead us to a private room so we could speak freely without prying ears. Seth leaned against the wall, while I sat down on the chair across from Amelia's little desk. She was such an unorganized person. There was papers scattered all over the place. How she found anything was beyond me. "Hunter watched the tapes and he feels that you are ready to get back in the ring..."

"That's awesome!" I cut in.

"However; your debut won't be until at least Battleground if not Summerslam. That is still up in the air I'm afraid; but you are free to go back on the road."

Seth smiled at me, realizing what it meant. We weren't going to be separated after all. Amelia stepped out around her desk to stand before me. This training had done wonders for not only me but for our relationship as sisters. I wished that she could come with us just so I could spend more time with her. "You take care of yourself...you hear me." She said clenching her hands into fists at her sides.

"Always. Don't worry, I'll see you soon. There is no way I'm going to let you miss my first match back."

"I'll hold you to that. Now go on, get out of here."

"Thank you...for everything."

We left the room and I took in the views that I would see no more. It was sad, because I had spent so much time here over the last couple months. Amelia had been the anchor in keeping me afloat when Seth couldn't be. I just wish that things were different and that she could wrestle with me. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen thanks to the injury she sustained in Japan several years ago. The doctors told her that her knee would need repaired; but it would be ill-advised to get back in the ring again.

Fortunately, she was able to get back most of the movement in it. She could still run, jump, swim, etc; but she still refrained from trying to get back in the ring out of fear. Not that I blamed her, I think if I was in the same position...I'd stay away to.

Becky

I paced along the floor of my hotel room. A new city already and all I wanted to do was avoid the people that have become a second family to me. This wasn't me and I knew it; but there was just so much in my heart that caused a war in my head. I knew that Roman had lied about a lot of things and even cheated on Savannah, my best friend; but this time, I was caught in the web a little deeper than I cared to be.

Adrian Devox, a private investigator that Roman hired to follow Savannah, was now targeting me for whatever reason. He stole my wallet and took a picture to send to Roman as a mind game. Somehow I felt this was a little more personal than Roman spoke of. What had Roman done to piss this man off other than coming to his senses to stop the stalking of Savannah herself?

Falling onto the bed behind me, I stared at the plain wall that housed a single painting of a bunch of orchids in a vase. The light from the only lamp in the room was a dim reminder than it was already nightfall and tomorrow would be live event. My job was special to me and I could never imagine myself doing anything else.

It's been an entire day since Roman and I last spoke, which was kind of a good thing considering how conflicted I was about it all. I knew he was remorseful about cheating on Savannah in his drunken state of mind and the guilt over hiring Adrian was eating away at him. He just wasn't the same person anymore and I felt bad for him. Why? I didn't know. I shouldn't. Now, things were different. Again.

"You know he's the reason Seth walked away from Savannah, right?" Dean said keeping her from walking away.

"What are you talking about?" I asked utterly confused.

"Becky, he blackmailed Seth to get him to walk away. He felt threatened when it came to Savannah's feelings for him that just never seemed to go away. He knew that if Seth confessed how he felt about her, she'd leave him."

As Dean was telling me something the Roman should have told me himself, I felt betrayed yet again. Not just because he couldn't trust me with something like that; but also because I felt that Savannah had been in the wrong. I never wanted to be mad at her for anything. This was my best friend; but deep down, I felt like she used him on some level. "I think they both were wrong. More Roman obviously; but Savannah to for being with him while having feelings for another. That shouldn't happen either."

Closing my eyes, I fought back the tears I've been holding in for days. Dean told me what I didn't know only hours before hand. It wouldn't be long before Seth and Savannah would arrive at my door. Their flight had already landed about forty minutes ago. I had to get my emotions in check before I said things I didn't mean. Pushing myself up, I got off the bed only to hear the knock I was expecting.

Crossing the room, I opened the door to see Savannah standing there with Seth at her side. A wide warm smile curves her lips and I couldn't help but smile in return, because in reality I did miss her a lot. She wrapped her arms around me tightly. "I've missed you." She said pulling away.

"So what's going on?" Seth asked not missing a single beat.

"So um...you know when you said you thought someone was falling you..." I said issuing them to side down on the small couch.

"Yeah..."

"That's because someone was...Roman had hired a PI to follow you around for a while."

"What!"

She was angry, that much was obvious. Seth narrowed his eyes, probably feeling the same way. Her lax hands were now clamped into fists at her sides. Savannah wanted to stay friends with Roman even after all the shit he put her through; but what she didn't know was that she had put him through things to. "Listen for a minute." I stated holding my hand up to stop her from shouting out anything harsh.

"Becky..." Seth tried to interrupt; but I cut him off to.

"He stopped it once he realized that you were happy. That was supposed to be it; but this guy...well he got pissed off. Stole my wallet and sent a picture to Roman as a mind game. I don't what he wants from him or what else to do about it; but the reason I told you to keep an eye on Savannah last night was because I didn't know if he'd target her next."

Savannah relaxed, unclasped her hands and looked at me with a softness I hadn't seen since she walked through the door. Seth took her hand and laced his fingers through hers, giving it a tight squeeze. I was already feeling the strain of all the information I held inside, plus the other emotions I've been keeping hidden for the last couple days. "What was the man's name?" She asked breaking the silence.

"Adrian Devox."

"I know that name..." She answered suddenly.

"Really?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, I met him on the plane when I was coming to Florida. I thought he was just a fan of mine."

I moved away from them to sit down on the edge of the bed. My fingers ran through my hair. Savannah tilted her head to side, confused as to why I moved away from her. She turned to Seth, giving his hand a squeeze. "Why don't you go check us in, give us some time alone..." She suggested.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

He nodded and kissed her temple before getting up to walk out of the room. I was kind of glad she made him leave, because there were things I wanted to say to her in private. That included things about Roman. Why did the heart have to be so complicated? Why couldn't things just be simple? Once Seth was gone, Savannah moved across the room to side down next to me. Her soft hazel eyes were comforting as she wrapped an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into her arms. "I'm sorry that I haven't been around..." She apologized.

"Not your fault. What's the deal with this guy? Did Roman know him?"

"I honestly don't know. That something we need to ask him."

"I don't know if that's a good idea..."

"Why not? This involves us to."

That wasn't why I didn't think it was a good idea. I just didn't want to get close to him again, because every time I did my heart took over instead of the rationality of my head. I was confused at the emotions I was feeling for him in the first place, no need to add any more confusion to the mix.

Obviously sensing my hesitation, she pulled away to look at me directly. It's been a while since we talked like this. It's been mostly me listening to her vent over frustrated feelings. This time it wasn't about her...it was about me. "What's wrong?" She asked attentively.

"I've become weak, Savannah. I sore I'd never let a man in anymore and I don't even know what these feelings are."

"Becky, it's not weak to let people in. I've told you this before."

"This isn't just some random person, Savannah. This is someone who has done a lot of bad things and I feel awful about it to."

Once again, she took me into her arms. Comforting me like I was a child; but in that moment, I needed it because of all the inner turmoil raging inside me. "I don't think Roman is a bad person. He just made some pretty shitty decisions; but now that I knew this Adrian Devox is playing head games with him. I think it's a little more personal now. Despite everything he's done, I can't hate him. I've known him a long time and I'm not going to throw that friendship away, nor should you. If you want to be friends, then be friends...there is nothing wrong with it."

"Thank you...I'm so glad you're back."

"Me to...me to..."

There wasn't just questions about Adrian that needed to be answered. I wanted to know why he never told me about the blackmail. It made me wonder if he was hiding anything else. I was determined to find that out, with or without help.