After Paige leaves, Ricardo spends the rest of the weekend alternating between long walks around Alberto's grounds, sometimes with Sofia and sometimes alone, and training in the basement in Alberto's state of the art gym and wrestling ring. On Sunday night, he finds his tablet and lays on the couch, listening to Summerslam while pouring over his Punjabi book. When Sofia joins him, she lifts his head and rests it on her lap, brushing her fingers through his hair while he reads. When Paige's match comes up, they watch closely and, no surprise to either of them, her team wins thanks to Becky Lynch.

They sit quietly for a few minutes before Ricardo looks up at the housekeeper. "I think I'm going to bed, Sofia. You can continue watching if you want, I'll leave my tablet here-"

"No, that's fine," she says softly. "I've seen all that I want to see as well. Buenos noches, mi hijo."

He smiles at her. "Buenos noches, Sofia." Kissing her on the cheek, he picks his book and tablet up and leaves for his bedroom. He has a busy week ahead, with training at the dojo and learning more Punjabi, looking into the progress on his visa for the trip to India. Not to mention Tough Enough's finale is this week, which means it'll be the last week Paige will be in Florida after Raw. He sighs at the thought, kicking his pants off and sinking into bed. Sleep hasn't been easy to reach, but he tries again, staring up at the ceiling.

It's not until he notices his phone's flashing, checking it long enough to find a text waiting for him from Paige. Good night, love, is all it says but still, it soothes his nerves and he replies back with a simple Good night, not wanting to make her think the wrong thing, before closing his eyes and dozing off a few minutes later.

Monday goes by in a flash and Ricardo skips watching Raw, too busy with things at the Dojo to bother. Tuesday he has a fair more amount of free time so he finds himself at home, watching the Tough Enough season finale. Alicia and Cesaro are guest competitors, putting the women and men through their first matches to determine who'd grown the most in the last ten weeks. He's not that surprised when Sara Lee and Josh win, leaning back against the couch from where he's sitting on the floor and debating with himself.

Total Divas is on right now but he's not sure if he has it in him to watch it, risk seeing more to do with Kevin, when the break up- and Paige's reaction to it- is still so fresh in his mind. He had skipped last week, but something tells him he should watch this week. Just to see. So he turns it on and isn't that surprised when one of the points of the show is Kevin going to visit Paige in Vancouver while she was filming Santa's Little Helpers. He picks at his nails and tries not to look but something in him can't resist and he peeks up at the screen under dark eyelashes, watching them kiss and talk about things while wandering around the Vancouver set. There's an ease between them but he can't tell if it's lesser or more than his own relationship with the woman.

He's still sitting there, lost in thought when a curtain of black hair blocks his vision of the TV and Paige cups his face, kissing him slowly, finally home from Tough Enough and Tough Talk. "Hullo, love," she says softly.

He raises his eyebrows and smiles warily. "What are you doing, Paige?"

"You know what I'm doing," she whispers against his lips.

"Alberto or Sofia could walk in at any time-" he says, his resolve already weakening, when she slowly gets up and grips the doorknob, pushing the door shut securely. It doesn't have a lock but she leans against it for a moment anyway, examining him. Total Divas is still droning on behind her as she approaches him and rests her hands on his ankles, eyes dark and focused on him. He shudders as she traces his scars, hands gentle and careful. He normally doesn't like people touching him there, the scars a big part of his self-esteem problems, but her hands are so warm and soft that he keeps his thoughts to himself, leaning back against the couch cushions as she leans in and kisses each bit of raised skin.

She doesn't stop there, slowly working her way up his legs. He watches her quietly, feeling like he should say something but not sure what. He closes his eyes and, trying to refrain from touching her, digs his fingers into the couch cushions as she presses openmouthed kisses against his skin, his toes curling against her legs in response. His breathing hitches when their eyes lock, effectively keeping his attention from Total Divas behind him, and he gives in, sighs out her name softly as she presses her hands on top of his and entangles their fingers. He tries to stay still, allow her the opportunity to see what she's doing through, but it's hard not to respond in any really significant way to her.

Total Divas is close to the end of the episode when Paige curls up close to him, both of them drifting for a few minutes before he looks back at the TV screen in time to see Paige apologizing to Kevin for testing his loyalty to her with help from Rosa when he lifts her hand and begins talking about her ring size. Ricardo's grip around Paige's waist tightens and she brushes a hand down his face, rolling over to hover over him. "Look at me, Ricardo. Not that, not him. Focus on this moment, when we're together and I'm in your arms. Nothing else matters, alright?"

He stares up at her and closes his eyes when she leans in and kisses him again, nodding quietly. "I'll try," he breathes against her. They lay for a few minutes when she shifts and sits up, confusing him as she pads over to her bag next to the TV stand. "What are you doing?" he wonders, sitting up to watch her, afraid that she's had enough and will just leave him. When she turns around, the loving look on her face not changed, he almost feels guilty for doubting her again.

She holds something against her chest and walks back over to him, sitting in his lap as he braces her with an arm around her waist. "I brought you something. But I'm not hiding these in your bag, I'm giving you this face to face because I'd like to see your reaction..." She cups his face and kisses him slowly. "Just letting you know I loved the designs, and I'm happy fans can get shirts of yours now." He's about to answer when she unfolds the shirt of hers that recently went on sale at Tilly's, tugging it on over his head and smoothing it out over his chest.

He looks down at it in surprise, then back up at her. "So while I'm wearing your shirt, you'll be wearing mine?" She nods, her eyes a little wet, and he hugs her. "Thank you, I'll treasure it. I promise."

She smiles and stands, reaching down for his hands. "Let's go to bed. You are right that Alberto and Sofia could come in here at any time... Even I have limitations to how dangerously I like to live."

He smiles up at her and pulls himself up with a little help from her, following her down the hall.

-x

Once the Tough Talk finale ends, Alicia bounces into the apartment, pleased that she'd seen Sara Lee through her first match successfully- and had kept Amanda from seriously injuring herself through a truly confusing match. She's still a little sore but the trainer had carefully looked her over, especially due to how recently she'd been concussed, and gave her a clear bill of health. She peeks into the bedroom to find Alex sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep, and she smiles gently, resting her hands on his. "I'm home, A-Ri." Kissing him softly, she's about to turn around and look for something to eat when his fingers tighten around her wrist and tug her back into his arms. "Hey!"

He laughs against her shoulder. "Hi, Foxy. You trying to sneak away without talking to me?" He guides his hands along her stomach, tickling softly. She giggles and squirms around in his arms, digging her nails into his back when he stops and cups her face, searching her eyes. "I was so scared watching your match with Amanda. Especially since you were concussed not that long ago..." His hands curve up her back as she arches into his touch. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No, I'm fine," she says, settling down against his chest. "Even better now. But yeah, the trainer was concerned too so he examined me thoroughly and says I'm good to go." She sits up and kisses him slowly, lazily. "Do you want something to eat? I can make something really quick, or we can have something delivered..."

He stares up at her and smiles. "Deliver, that'll give us some more alone time..."

She hums and nods. "Alright, Chinese sound good?" When he nods, she leans over and collects her purse from the floor, searching for her phone. As she dials and places the order, Alex's lips and hands explore her soft skin, trying to make her blank on the food they prefer and other information required, but she keeps everything straight and ends the call successfully without having to repeat herself. He pouts against her stomach upon failing and she tosses her phone blindly towards her purse, pushing him back against the pillows and kissing him. "I'm sorry we couldn't go on a real honeymoon yet, but as soon as your rehab is completed and things with the Divas revolution calm down, we'll figure out something amazing..."

"What are you talking about?" he asks her softly. "This is the best honeymoon anyone could've ever been on... Any time alone with you feels like a honeymoon..." His hands trace up her back and she sighs, pressing against him, kissing him heatedly.

"I love you..."

"I love you too," he breathes against her skin, smiling affectionately.