Author Note: I know these chapters haven't been the greatest. I apologize for how awful they were and I'm trying to do better with this one. On a positive note, I'm starting to feel better; so onto the newest installment and let me know what you think of it.

A special thanks goes to: espeon44, 49ers(Guest), Levesque-Rollins823 and rkosgirl1 for the reviews.

Chapter 31: Battle on the Horizon

Seth

Waking up the next morning, Savannah was still hugging her pillow in the same way she fell asleep in. I couldn't help but smile upon seeing her in such a peaceful way. There was so much going on in her life that it was nice to see her in such a relaxed state instead of knowing how much stress she was trying to hide from everyone. I could see it weighing in on her; but refused to acknowledge it. Leaning in, I pressed my lips upon her forehead. She stirred a little without opening her eyes, so I shifted my body so I could exit the bed without disturbing her further.

Padding across the floor, I got to my bag for clothes. Quickly finding a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I moved into the bathroom and turned the knobs for the water to kick-start the shower. The puffiness of my hair was extremely unappealing and definitely needed taken care of. After a few minutes of the water warming up to my liking, I stepped under the spray and soaked in the comfort of the pounding water against my skin.

There was so much on my mind that I couldn't begin to bring up to her. The draft was quickly approaching and there was a worry that we'd be separated and we wouldn't see each other as much as we wanted to. There was also a concern about someone else would try their hand at swaying her if we were separated. I always wondered what she saw in me, because I was such a complex guy. Sure, I had looks; but there was so much about me that drove women away.

In mid-thought, I heard the door open. Savannah's quiet yawn could be heard even through the sounds of the water hitting my head. "Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked softly. I could see the silhouette of her body moving to sit on the vanity that housed the sink.

"Cause you looked so peaceful, didn't want to ruin that." I answered honestly, because it was the truth.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her get down off the counter. She closed the distance a little and moved the curtain open a little to peak inside. She sucked in her bottom lip the second her eyes locked onto my wet naked body. The woman was completely insatiable and hard to resist when she looked like that.

Before I could say anything, she stepped inside. The water turning a violet color the second it hit her hair. That didn't matter, my eyes weren't on that any longer. They were on her naked body. Every single delicious curve for my viewing. My hands were on her in a matter of moments. She captured my lips, running her hands through my wet hair. "Good morning to you to." I said half joking.

"Hey, I figured we'd save water this way..." She replied with a coy smile.

"Uh huh."

She turned away from me to finish dowsing her hair in the water, leaving me to run a single finger down her spine before pulling her back against me. I cupped her breasts from behind, dipping down to kiss the curve of her neck. This was how I envisioned our relationship to be. Highly sensual; but full of fun at the same time. I didn't want it all to be sexual. I wanted to do things with her, visit places around the world and maybe someday...start a family.

Savannah stepped away, reaching for the shampoo sitting on the edge of the tub. I was half-temped to just take her in the shower; but I pushed the thoughts down, trying to concentrate on today's events that would take place at Raw tonight. With Dean being the new champion, we had to set up a new match that would take place at Battleground that would be on the Sunday after the draft.

The key exception now was Roman's suspension. He could only appear tonight, after that Dean and I have to carry the feud on our own. That was fine; but I worried about what the people would think of it. Hunter always told me not to worry about things like that, because sometimes you just can't please the fans with everything you do. It was seriously easier said than done.

Savannah would be gracing Raw for the first time in a year, no doubt there is some nervous tendencies within her. She may never tell me so. I could just see it in her eyes or the way she was currently holding onto me. Letting go, she walked across the room towards her own bag. Pulling out a set of clothes to dress herself into, I could hear her agitated groan when she closed the lid a little more roughly.

"What's wrong?" I asked stepping towards her.

"My necklace isn't in there."

"The one your mother got you?"

"Yeah, the Irish one."

She slipped into the pair of black leggings and a white flowing top that was slightly low cut to show off her perfect cleavage. The silvery shine of the butterflies on the shirt sparkled against the lighting of the room. I watched her frantically walk over to where her handbag rested. She dug into it looking for the lost item; but I had a feeling that it was not accidentally misplaced. I had a feeling the douche-bag Adrian decided it was Savannah's turn. With Becky being injured, Savannah was the next closest person to Roman emotionally. That made me wonder even more what this guys problem with Roman really was.

"I swear if he fucking took it..." Her words trailed off just as she pulled the item out of her handbag, much to my relief.

I took the chain into my hand and went to her back to clasp it behind her neck. Her hands were shaking from the adrenaline of anger she must of felt with the thought of Adrian taking her most precious possession. Kissing her temple in passing, I stepped back to grab my belongings before we headed out of the room with the arena as our destination.

Roman

Walking backstage was not how I expected it to go. There was a lot of harsh stares aimed in my direction and whispers about Becky's choice to stick with me. Of course, none of them knew the truth behind the reasons of my suspension and doubted they would even care if I were to try and explain anything to them. "Don't listen to them." Becky said softly, leaning a little into my arm.

"They are right, you know." I countered.

"Right about what?"

"That you've ruined yourself by being with me."

She rolled her eyes and took my hand tightly. There was a slight grimace to her facial expression due to the injury of her ribs. I stopped walking to look right at her, because that was what she wanted. The woman before me had changed a lot for me in the small amount of time that our feelings have blended together. "I don't care what other people think of my choice. They are mine for a reason. It's called freedom. I have the freedom to talk to, be friends with, or date whoever I want to and their opinions don't mean shit to me."

I was completely dumbfounded by her sudden outburst of emotion. Though she was right in the aspect of freedom, I couldn't help but feel like I was holding her back by being so damaged. There was a crazed man set to ruin my life. She's already had to change her bank accounts and get a new drivers license due to Adrian stealing her wallet.

"Is that what we are? Dating?" I asked.

"We can be whatever. I'm not rushing anything."

"Good to know."

Lacing my fingers through hers, I continued to walk down the hall only to see Dean talking to Savannah's sister Amelia. There was a large smile across her face as she reached out to touch his arm in an obvious flirtatious manor.

"I thought you said there wasn't anything going on between the two of you." Becky questioned folding her arms across her chest, cringing in pain as she did so.

"There isn't." Amelia stated leaning against the wall.

"Whatever. All I have to say is that you need to stop hiding it from Savannah."

Amelia's annoyed eyes softened almost instantly. She had to know that Becky was right. Dean was like a brother to Savannah and pretty protective of him when it came to the women he dated. Now the woman in question was her own blood sister. That wasn't going to be an easy pill to swallow. "Speaking of Savannah, where is she?" I asked, wanting to speak with her a few minutes before Raw started.

"She's in Seth's locker-room the last time I saw her." Dean answered.

"Thanks..."

I placed a hand on Becky's shoulder and then stepped out around them to walk alone down the hall. There were things I wanted to say to her; but whether or not they would actually come out was entirely different story, especially if Seth was present. It didn't take long for me to come to the door. Knocking, there was sounds of shuffling before the door actually opened up.

Savannah stood before me in her dark blue ring gear. The material of her pants gave a shiny look to them. Her hair was resting over her shoulders, exposing more of the green in her hazel eyes. "Roman? What brings you here?" She asked stepping out of the room and gently closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry...for everything I did..."

She looked at me like she was confused about the apology. I wondered if she believed me at all. I supposed it didn't matter if she did or not. The fact that I actually said I was sorry for all the shitty things I've done to her over the last few months, plus the added bonus of Adrian Devox's involvement in the situation to make matters worse. "Roman, I've already told you before that I forgave you for all those things. There is no need to apologize again for the same things. You are not at fault for all the things happening when it comes to Adrian. Stop beating yourself up for it."

"I appreciate the encouragement. I wish Becky understood what she's getting herself into..."

"She cares for you. It doesn't matter what the baggage is and I think you need to accept her company and her feelings."

"Thank you..."

Savannah

After Raw started, I stood backstage waiting for my chance to be in front of the crowd. Natalya walked down the ramp with a very vocal crowd solely on booing her for the actions she made against Becky at the pay-per-view. She got into the ring and raised her arms up, pretty proud of herself. Deep down, I blamed her for getting too carried about in the aftermath that she injured Becky's ribs.

She got a microphone and settled in the center of the ring. A smug smile rested on her face that annoyed the hell out of me. The crowd quieted down a little to allow her speak her mind, even though I was pretty sure they didn't want to hear any of it.

"So last night Becky cost me the win in that tag match...so I took care of the problem and cut my losses."

The crowd didn't react very well to her bragging of beating up on my best friend. It was no secret that Becky and I were friends in and out of the ring. Everyone knew it, which was why the crowd favored me at my return last night. Natalya smug smile grew even wider upon hearing the crowds displeasure. "Then someone shows up that hasn't been around for like a year and thinks she can change things!"

Those words sparked the crowd to start a chant in my honor. 'Sav' 'Sav' 'Sav'. I was completely flattered to hear it and caused my heart to race with its notion. It annoyed Natalya, who lowered her microphone and looked around. Snapping in response in telling them all to 'shut up'. I smiled upon walking away from the backstage TV and towards the curtain.

My entrance music started up, allowing the people to get to their feet in anticipation of my arrival. I stepped through the curtain with outstretched arms. Their voice grew louder and all I could do was smile. A disgusted look suddenly appeared as her eyes connected with me. Getting into the ring, I reached for the microphone that was being handed to me by JoJo. "Oh Nattie, that's funny considering you really haven't done much up until you finally got your shot at Charalotte. In which, you lost. So you blamed everyone else for your loss instead of blaming yourself."

"And just where have you been for the last year while the evolution was happening? Oh that's right...you were gone. Not good enough to even be a part of it, so don't waste my time by being out here."

"The only waste of time I see right now is you. The only reason I came out last night was cause you attacked my friend after the match was already over. I'll be happy to give you a fight, if that's what you're looking for."

The cheers got even louder; but of course, that wasn't what the blonde haired woman wanted. She raised her hands up innocently and took steps away from me, until she lashed out with a clothesline knocking me down to the mat. Picking me back up by my hair, I moved her arms away to get a shot across her jaw with my forearm. Reaching around her, I locked my hands together around her waist and tossed her over my head with a release of my hands. A German Suplex, I learned from Bayley down at the performance center.

Natalya was stunned to see the aggressive nature within me and rolled out of the ring quickly. I stood alone in the ring, soaking in the warm welcome from the crowd as my music played. Stepping out of the ring, I gave several high-fives to some of the fans in the front row before leaving the stage area.

"I think you feel a lot more comfortable out there now, am I right?" Hunter asked the second I passed the backstage monitor.

"Yeah I do, I want to thank you for giving me another shot at this." I said.

He reached out to touch the side of my face. The look in his eyes were soft and almost parent-like. I have seen it before when it came to Sasha, Charlotte, Becky and Bayley. He loved those girls like his own daughters and maybe he would treat me the same way someday. "You've always had the potential and now I clearly see it."

"Thank you."

Seth turned the corner and smiled at me. Hunter let go of me and turned to see Seth standing there. Everyone knew of our relationship now and most approved of it; but we never exposed ourselves in from of him before. Hunter shifted to walk away; but before he did so, he placed a hand on Seth's shoulder before continuing on. "Seems like that was the seal of approve from the boss man." Seth's stated pulling me into his arms and capturing my lips into a searing kiss that made me tingle all over.

"Sav!" Becky yelled in a frantic voice.

"Becky? What's wrong?" I asked moving away from Seth.

Roman notice her frantic behavior from the other side of the hall and immediately crossed over to our growing group. Her hands were shaking so bad when she handed me her phone. Looking down, I could see her bank statement. Three days ago there was over 15,000 dollars saved in there and as of today there was nothing. Someone made a large withdrawal that wasn't her. "The money is gone...all of it..." She cried.

"What!" Roman bellowed. The anger laced through every single decibel of his voice.

"What do we do now?" Amelia asked approaching with Dean at her side.

"We need to talk to the police. Make them listen." I said through clenched teeth.

My best friend's tears were rolling down her cheeks and I couldn't imagine how she was feeling to loose that kind of money. There was no doubt in my mind that Adrian was behind it. I was going straight to the police with this. I'm not going to let her suffer anymore than she already has. Fuck that! Roman wrapped his arms around her tightly, allowing her sob into his chest. None of us knew what else to do but go to the authorities. Roman kissed her forehead lovingly, doing his best to comfort her. "Shhh, I'll figure it out. I promise."