Paige and Alicia end up flying out early for Raw. They end up in the same aisle of the airplane, staring at each other distrustingly, when Paige pulls out her earphones and loses herself in some music Ricardo had recommended to her a long time ago- Sevendust and other bands she hadn't listened to much of. She regrets not doing it sooner, growing to appreciate the sound more and more with time.

In kind, Alicia continues to ignore Paige as they depart the plane and head for the taxi area of the airport, until long fingers curl around her wrist and stop her. She's just turned to swing, defend herself, when Paige snaps, "We need to talk. About AJ." Alicia stares at her long and hard until Paige shakes her head, rethinking this split second decision. "Come on."

Alicia is curious, the news of AJ's pregnancy still new to half of the group, so she obliges Paige this one thing and gets in a rental car with her, saying very little as Paige drives them to a restuarant not that far away. "What do you want? And what does this have to do with AJ?"

Paige waits until she's ordered a drink to face Alicia, a steely look in her cool eyes. "I want to know why you're supporting the Bellas in demolishing AJ's record. Does this seem like it'd be good for her, especially now?"

Alicia sips from her own drink, mulling over Paige's questions. It's something that's been eating at her since before her marriage, when she'd learned that AJ was pregnant. She had weighed it over and over again, finally coming to the conclusion that AJ doesn't care as much as she might, with all of her focus and energy locked in on her pregnancy. Considering AJ had never mentioned it once to her, she thinks that whatever discomfort AJ has about Nikki beating her reign is minor in comparison to her joy over the pregnancy and life in general. "AJ is my best friend," she says softly, putting her drink down. "She was my matron of honor. I would never do something I'd think would hurt her. She hasn't mentioned Nikki beating her record once to me. Her energy is all on the pregnancy and married life with Mike. If I thought it upset her, it'd be between her and I, and not you and I anyway."

Paige has just opened her mouth to respond, a little angry and a lot impatient, when she spots a woman off to the side, filming them. "Hey!" she snaps, raising her eyebrows at the woman. "Yeah, you, sweetheart, we're having a private conversation here. Aim your camera elsewhere please." Alicia turns to look as the woman, growing brazen at having both of their attention, steps closer and continues filming. "Hey! I said-" Any closer and the camera would be right in Alicia's face so she acts first, throwing her glass at the woman. Whatever liquid's left in it splashes off of her tacky looking dress and the woman squeeches like she's been burnt, responding by throwing her own drink at Alicia, which misses and pours over Paige's face.

"Oh hell no!" Paige screams, grabbing hers and lobbing it at the woman. Soon, glasses are being thrown from one side to the other until management intercedes and kicks everyone out. Paige and Alicia stumble down the walkpath in front of the neighboring stores, not drunk but laughing uproariously before Paige slows down and looks over her shoulder. "Dammit, I don't feel like waiting for a taxi, that crazy bitch might come after us again."

They stand there, trying to think of a way to fix this, when Alicia suggests, "Why not call Mike?" She starts to feel guilty all over again for thinking that Paige and Mike are anything more than friends; it's clear when Paige calls him that that's all they are. She squares her shoulders and faces Paige while they wait. "I do have one apology to make. And that's to you. I bought into the rumors about you and Mike, and I almost made a bad situation worse. It wasn't fair to any of you."

"You're right," Paige sighs. "It wasn't. But I accept your apology." She shifts. "Will we be able to go back to wanting to kill each other come tomorrow after all of this clearning the air bollocks?"

Alicia chuckles. "I think so, yes."

She's right, they do.

-x

Ricardo is ridiculously busy the following week. His visa is still being processed, but he can feel it in his bones. He's only got so much time left in the States, and he vows to make it count. For himself, for the dojo. For his students. They work hard for four days straight and he barely sees anyone outside of that ring, only catching a few minutes of Raw here and there. Total Divas he skips entirely, which is fine as Paige isn't shown much at all, but he hears that the following week is where Kevin proposes. It's like a punch to the sternum and gives him the aggression to teach more, work harder at the dojo no matter how tired he gets.

They end mid-afternoon on Thursday and he goes home, collapsing into bed for a badly needed nap. Just to recharge. So he can be somewhat human to spend the night with Alberto and Sofia, catching up over dinner and perhaps then watching Smackdown, just to see what Paige is up to. Alberto doesn't much WWE anymore, but he stays in the room, probably because he feels the clock ticking against them as well. Ricardo sits next to him and absorbs the feel of his warmth, once more comforted by his best friend's presence.

Sofia gasps when Paige vs Sasha ends with a rough toss into the barricade wall, the previously ejected members of Teams PCB and BAD returning and beginning a brawl, everyone having difficulty separating Paige and Sasha who keep pulling free and tearing at each other. Paige looks beyond upset when finally Sasha stumbles away, dragged by Naomi and Tamina. "Ay dios mio," the housekeeper mumbles, used to such violence endured by the men next to her but it just seems different when it's Paige left looking so battered and devastated.

Ricardo finds her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. "She'll be fine, she's strong," he murmurs quietly.

Sofia stares at him, her dark eyes wide and searching. "You still love her deeply, mi hijo."

There's a lot he can say to that, but there's no point in denying it. He merely rubs his finger over Sofia's knuckles before excusing himself to go to sleep. Which, strangely enough, despite the thoughts and feelings racing through him, is the best, deepest sleep he's had in months.

It's only disrupted when there's a familiar weight on his legs and he opens his eyes, finding Paige staring down at him, the sun shining through the window hitting her black and blue hair and making her look delicious. She remains quiet as she leans forward and kisses him, her body fitting perfectly against his. He wants to say something, ask if she's ok, but every word is disrupted by her lips, her teeth, her tongue, so he falls quiet except for soft groans and hisses as she reawakens him in the best way possible.

She's kissing him deeply, fingers biting into his jaw just enough that it adds to the sensations pooling in his veins, when he realizes she's crying. He tries to pull away but she holds on tighter, her nails leaving dark red marks against his skin. She digs her heels into the back of his legs and pressing her forehead to his, finally opening her eyes enough to search his expression. What she finds there must be expected because she kisses his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, both eyes, with slow, precise movements. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you," is all she says before pressing her parted lips to his and moaning softly.

He wants to answer but he has a feeling that it would come out sounding like cheap platitudes so he keeps his thoughts to himself and simply gives in to the warm pressure of her. He's not asleep afterwards, but he's in a curious state between sleep and consciousness that he always goes to, the warmth of her body against him slowly disappearing. When she ducks into the bathroom, he actually thinks for a minute about joining her, but she's out barely two seconds later, walking past the bed and leaving the room to presumably go back to the second floor.

He swallows hard, watching through squinted eyes as she goes before peering over to the empty space in his bed. Son of a bitch, he thinks before burying his face in the pillows on the other side, where her scent still lingers. Doing this, with Paige leaving him every night, is so terrible, so heart-rending. To think of Paige having to face months without him entirely, her last vision of him waking away from her at the airport, stays with him for the lead up to what's going to be his last match in the States for a few months.

Staring at himself in the mirror as he examines his wrestling gear, he laughs brokenly. "You, sir, are an idiot."