After spending a quiet weekend at home, only leaving when Sofia needs things, Ricardo is glad when Monday comes around and Alberto safely returns to the States, even though he remains in Texas for a couple of extra days to visit with his family, spend his sister's birthday there.

Ricardo waves out of the car window at Sofia as he backs out of the driveway and heads for the dojo, eager for some training to get rid of some of these jitters haunting him the past few days. He's still unsettled about Paige and her reaction to losing both the Divas title and subsequent rematch... she'd continued to attack and blame Alicia, which makes him even more relieved that he'd moved out of Alex's apartment when he had. He's working through all of this in training the younger people at the dojo when he hears the ring shift and a hand pat him on the shoulder. Perplexed, he turns to see who's interrupting just to stop short upon realizing it's Paige. He smiles at her, searching her face. "Paige? What's going on? I thought you'd be at Raw?"

She shakes her head and wraps her arms around him, nuzzling closer to him. "I wasn't booked, so I thought I'd come home for a couple of days before I have to leave for the European tour. Aren't you happy to see me?"

Her pout sways him and he nods, losing the last bit of reluctance he'd been feeling, hoping she won't sense what he'd been thinking and feeling before she'd walked into the building. "Of course I am, mi fuerza, it was just a surprise," he soothes her, smiling down at her as she kisses him. He's not entirely comfortable, making out with her in front of the people who are essentially his students, so he's relieved when she pulls away shortly, glancing around at all of the people surrounding them, watching and whispering. "Back to work, guys, show's over," he calls out, throwing an apologetic grin Paige's way before wandering around to round up the people he had been trying to train before Paige's interruption.

It's not as bad as he'd feared, having her here. At least this way he doesn't have to worry about her and Alicia warring all around the Raw arena, and she's always been the kind of quiet encouragement that he'd needed. Once done, he can't help but feel like this has been one of the best training sessions he'd ever been part of at the dojo. It also keeps her distracted from the match that is coming up between AJ and Nikki Bella for the title that Paige still sees as her own. By the time the dojo's training session is concluding, Raw is long over and Ricardo yawns lazily as he heads over to where Paige is still sitting, looking up at him with a soft smile. "Done?"

"Si. I'll take a quick shower and then let's go home," he urges her, resting a hand on her lower back as she obediently turns and walks to the back with him, watching as he ducks into the showers. Her lips twitch up as she searches his bag and pulls out a change of clothes for him, her eyes softening as she finds one of Alberto's merch shirts, trailing her hand over the logo before plucking at her own shirt, shaking her head at her own lack of foresight.

"How long have we been together and I've never even given him once of my shirts? Some girlfriend I am," she murmurs to herself, having to laugh at the mere thought of a relationship being based on someone's merchandise. Even so... She pats the shirt and finds some comfortable black pants, all too aware of his knee and ankle issues, especially lately as winter inches closer.

When he comes out, he has to smile at her as she waits patiently for him, clothes held at the ready for him. "Gracias, mi fuerza," he says softly, taking them from her and quickly changing. Once done, he wraps an arm around her and she marvels again at his warmth, something that had always comforted her when she was close to him like this. "Let's go."

"Mm hmm," she whispers, not wanting to leave his side ever again as they make their way through the dark parking lot. But he has dates scheduled in New York and she has, of course, to go to Europe, so there's not much of a choice on early Tuesday as she kisses him goodbye, tells him to have fun this weekend and shoulders her gear, walking towards the gate with a determined stride. She passes Alicia but doesn't even blink, walking past her as if she's not even there.

Ricardo winces and turns to find Alex staring at him from his position near his girlfriend. Both of them shrug helplessly before Ricardo turns to leave, not wanting to get involved in that drama any further than he actually is. So far there were no problems between he and Alex that he knew of, and he's not about to force the issue now.

After a few more days spent busy at the dojo, it's finally Friday and he flies out to New York, aware that Alberto is heading there from Texas as well. It'll be the first time they've worked together since Alberto had put his plan into motion and Ricardo can't help but feel a little trepidation, not sure how it'll go... if, after a year of working on his own, Alberto will be alright with sharing the spotlight with him once more. Intellectually he knows that Alberto had not begun his plan because of any issues with Ricardo himself, he'd had weird ideas of how to do it to help Ricardo, but even so, deep down inside, he has his doubts and insecurities still stemming from the brutal attack.

One of the things that keep him awake late at night, lost in insomnia, after all, is the reminder that actions speak louder than words... and the little boy deep inside of him, already abandoned and bullied by so many people, had clung to the pain of that moment, barely able to make sense of Alberto's kindness now when remembering what had happened before. He sighs and closes his eyes, hating himself for doubting his best friend, his hermano, when Alberto had done everything he could to prove himself once more to Ricardo... He jumps slightly when his phone goes off in his hand and he stares down at it, a small smile growing across his face until he's grinning wide enough to hurt. Alberto had tweeted back to him when he'd advertised their reunion, confirming that he was on the way... and he sounds so excited, proved by the typos and other little mistakes in his tweets that are so unlike the Mexican aristocrat.

It's enough to relax Ricardo, reassure him over the whole situation once more. "Gracias, El Patron," he whispers to the phone before putting it back in his pocket and settling back in his seat on the airplane, looking forward to landing in New York now.