Leaving India had been strange. Ricardo had tried to adjust quickly to life back in the States, picking up where he'd left off. Taking indy dates, agreeing to train at the dojo again, all of the normal things he does. And it works, really it does... until he proposes to Paige and she says yes. They'd announced the news to their friends slowly, allowing the information to spread organically for the most part from them to Alberto and Sofia, then to Mike and AJ, on down to Alicia, Alex and John.

It's only after the news is more widespread that Ricardo receives an email from Alex, which is odd in and of itself. He barely speaks to Alex anymore, understanding that Mike and the others want very little to do with him as well. Something foreboding shivers down his spine as he stares at the email subject, which is blank, finally tapping it to open it. When it loads, he almost wants to laugh. "Just to let you know, before you get too invested in this engagement, that people have seen Del Rio and Paige together doing some... not very friendly things to each other. Just watch out for yourself, man."

Considering things Alex has said on social media and in NXT, it's hard to take him seriously. Already jetlagged and emotionally sensitive, Ricardo brushes it off as best as he can until the week of the European tour. He's not sure where it comes from, is all too aware that it's not from Alex, who is still in Florida as he hadn't been needed for the overseas tour, but someone- from a phone number he doesn't recognize- sends him an image of Alberto and Paige standing very close together, staring into each other's eyes. His stomach drops, although the picture could very easily be innocent, and he's just overreacting. It's suddenly hard to breathe, or think, or do anything significant as all of the doubts he'd tried to move past crash against him in a tidal wave of emotions.

He no-shows his indy events in California and Canada that weekend and spends the time with his family and Sofia instead, trying desperately not to think about it. That, after months of asking him to be patient while she did whatever on Total Divas, Paige would actually turn to his best friend, his hermano. That Alberto, after everything they'd been through together, would do such a thing to him... He apologies profusely to the people who had booked him, although he knows deep inside that he would've been no good, would've risked injurying himself or his oppoents while so distracted by his wayward thoughts.

He attempts to move past it, act normal for Alberto and Paige's sake, because it had to have been nothing, Paige is still proudly wearing his ring and Alberto seems normal, accepts being his best man. Nothing's wrong, nothing's out of the ordinary-

And then he sees the picture. Of them at Disneyland, kissing. His world crashes around his feet as he just knows. Something had happened, somewhere between Paige starting this thing with Bradley on Total Divas and Ricardo leaving for India, something massive had shifted. And this entire time, he was on the other side of the world, leaving his girlfriend to live with his best friend, trusting them both just to come back to this. It all clicks into place with disgusting clarity- Alberto's abrupt decision to return to the WWE, Alberto's disinterest in them working together once Ricardo was back in the States, the look deep in Paige's eyes, hidden behind the happiness and amazement at the ring finally being on her finger.

She had fooled him with the 'kissing Memo' story, if only he had known she'd had both of the Del Rio brothers, if only he had been aware that Total Divas was just the tip of the iceberg. But oh, he knows now. He has proof, he has multiple social media platforms discussing the two, if they're a couple, the age difference between the two, some very... personal matters about their relationship, and it makes him feel ill to see that, amongst some of the chatter, a couple of jokes are made about him, mostly about his relationship with Del Rio, no one aware of his place in Paige's life. What he'd thought was his place in Paige's life, anyway.

He hugs his knees to his chest and stares blankly at the picture until he hears a car door slam. Alberto, then. And Paige comes home a little while later, Sofia's soft chatter greeting them. Paige will soon come in to greet him with a kiss and pretend that everything's normal, like she's been doing for a solid two months by now, and Alberto will bring up sports at dinner and they will laugh and chatter excitedly in Spanish and... He feels like he could throw up.

Getting to his feet, he stuffs his phone in his pocket with trembling hands and walks out to the kitchen, watching the three of them. They're so at ease with each other, the three of them. A perfect, cozy little family. The handsome millionaire, hot younger girlfriend, and the ever loyal, ever diligent housekeeper with the ready smile. He had never felt this unneeded or unwelcomed in Alberto's house before, not even after Alberto had betrayed him and slammed a bucket against his spine and kicked steps in his face. Finally tired of watching them, he clears his throat and observes absently as Paige turns to him, her lips twitching up into a grin as Alberto's eyes gleam upon resting on him.

They're talking, he can hear it through the buzzing in his ears, but he can barely make sense of it. He stares at them for a few moments before reaching into his pocket and pulling his phone out, gently resting it in the palm of Paige's hand. She looks at him in confusion before gazing down at the screen, her lips immediately parting in horror as tears immediately fill her eyes. Alberto, now looking worried, steps up to her and stares at the screen too, a faint curse leaving his lips. Sofia looks so confused, the poor thing, that Ricardo almost wants to laugh, though he feels like breaking down crying.

"My best friend," he says slowly. "My brother. And my fiancee." He takes a breath. "I asked you to marry me," he says to Paige. "I asked you to be my best man." His numb gaze rests on Alberto. "And this entire time, you've been... you've been seeing each other behind my back? I know you've been traveling with Mike, does he know? Am I the last to find out?"

"No, no," Paige says, scrambling to stand next to him, gripping at his arm, clearly wanting to make him understand. "It was just- it was one thing, we were... I don't know, we were lonely and, and we were talking about you, and it just... it was a horrible, stupid moment that we immediately regretted and agreed to forget, and-"

Ricardo stares at her, causing her to stop short in mid-explanation. "Was all of this for Total Divas too?" He looks past her as she gapes like a fish out of water, staring at Alberto. "I didn't think you could hurt me more than you did when you attacked me after my suspension. Somehow you managed it. Kudos, hermano," he says, each word dripping in sarcasm. Stepping away from Paige, he approaches Sofia and squeezes her shoulders, trying to smile down at her even as he starts to crack, losing control of his emotions. "I'll see you soon, si? I can't stay here any longer."

Paige and Alberto are frozen as he locates his keys and approaches the door. Finally Alberto moves, trying to grab him. "No, no, mi hermano, stop- wait, we need to-" But Ricardo rests his hand on Alberto's chest and stops him, their eyes locking. "Ricardo."

"Let me go," Ricardo tells him, voice quiet and intense. "We need to do nothing, if you try to talk to me right now, it's just going to make everything worse. I need time. And space." He only has his wallet and his keys, phone and a few dollars, but he can't be bothered to walk all of the way back to his bedroom and grab more things, so he pulls away from Alberto and heads for the door, quietly opening it and stepping out, closing it and leaning against it. He closes his eyes and releases a deep breath before pulling away and walking to the car, slipping inside. Careful not to look at the house and risk seeing Sofia or the other two watching him from one of the windows, he puts his key in the ignition and slowly pulls out of the extra long driveway.

He's barely turned onto the road when the tears start to fall. Slow at first, then thicker, and faster. He pounds his fist against the steering wheel, gritting his teeth to keep the ugly, awful sounds in for as long as possible before losing that fight too. Thankfully for him, the roads are quiet enough, Ricardo only hitting a freeway once he's calmed down enough to actually see where he's going. He drives for a good hour before his brain clears enough and he starts to think. He'll need gas if he's going to do this for much longer and even then, he'll need somewhere to stay, something to eat. Basic functions to survive.

Stopping at the next gas station, he leans against the hood of his car and sighs as the wind blows through his ponytail. It's comforting, it's relaxing. It helps him to get together something of a gameplan. Alex is out, easily, and he doesn't want to contact anyone from the dojo- his personal life shouldn't mix with professional anymore than it needs to. He's a trainer, he can't allow this mess to throw him off any further than it already has. With everyone else in California, there's only one person he can really think to call.

-x

Knocking on the all too familiar apartment door leaves him anxious, uncomfortable. He shuffles around a bit, biting his lip, until he hears footsteps approaching. The door is pulled open a moment later, and Alicia Fox stares at him with a vaguely sympathetic smile. "Come in, Ricardo. Come on in. Is this all you have?" she wonders, staring down at the bags of food he'd bought in an attempt to thank her for taking him in at such short notice.

He nods, clears his throat. "Yeah, I, uh. I left Alberto's pretty quickly, I didn't really have time to grab any of my stuff."

Alicia makes a face and then peeks into the bag of food, a soft sound of appreciation leaving her lips at the piles of Chinese food cartons within. "Ok, well, the guest room is ready for you... and I think there are some things of Alex's around, if you want to use them. Clothes, his toiletries." She forces a smile, the pain in her dark eyes obvious. "He clearly was in a hurry to get away from me too."

Ricardo makes a soft, empathetic noise deep in his throat before patting her awkwardly on the arm. He's not sure how this is going to work, but they're both broken hearted and lonely, so maybe, he thinks, they'll be good for each other in the long run. And if not, he's busy with the dojo and indy events, and she's on the road a lot for WWE, so it's not like they're going to see much of each other either way.