Ricardo's week ends on a high note. He wins his final match, Alberto and Sofia in the crowd, cheering and applauding him on as he walks over and hugs them both. When his eyes clear of the lights, he spots her. Paige, standing next to Sofia with a sheepish look on her face and Alberto laughs when Ricardo looks confused and shocked. "I had her flown back here after her media appearance at Wizard World. Did you think she would want to miss this?"

She switches places with Sofia and they stare at each other for a moment before she steps up on her tippytoes and kisses him. "Congratulations. I knew you'd do great tonight." He has to go before the next competitors through get annoyed at him ruining their entrances so he barely has a chance to say anything in response, but he does kiss her back before pulling away and heading backstage.

After a quick nightcap with Sofia and Alberto, Ricardo retires to his bedroom, not that surprised to find Paige waiting. She crosses her legs and uncrosses her legs at the edge of his bed, looking up when he enters. As he watches her, slowly slipping his jacket off and kicking his shoes under the bed, she joins him and helps ease the shirt off of his shoulders too. He stands there, watching her watch him, sucking in a breath as she leans in and kisses his shoulders, down his arm. Once her lips touch his palms, he's lost. She guides him over to the bed and straddles him, brushing her long hair over her shoulder before kissing and nibbling at his neck. "You're always so warm," she breathes. "Even in the winter, when I know you're uncomfortable and hating everything around you, I just need to wrap my arms around you and I'm immediately warm again."

He strokes her hair and thinks about that, how she won't have him to warm her up this winter. He closes his eyes and breathes out, "Lo siento," but she shakes her head and covers his lips with hers, swallowing all other apologetic noises he may make. When he finally quiets, she pushes him onto the bed and leans down, kissing his stomach and chest. He had realized quite awhile ago this was her way of making him miss her, regret his words and actions, and although everything in him had demanded he make her stop, make her realize that their being apart would be the best for both of them, his body had been weak, floating on a sea of mind-numbing, toe-curling bliss.

As she settles down against him once more, he thinks she had expected that as well. Not that it matters as she whispers in his ear just the way he likes, how her body feels against him. He couldn't let her go even if the world was crumbling to pieces around them right this very moment.

Come Monday, though, he has no choice. She has to fly out for Raw, so he sees her off with a small, pained smile, watching as she boards the plane that will take her away. He spends Monday at the dojo, training himself and the students there as hard as he can, aware that soon he won't be here. They'll be left in the hands of the other- very capable- trainers, and he won't see their progress first hand for so long... But he'll have new students in India to train, mold into good competitors.

Tuesday is much the same, Paige arriving back in Florida mid-afternoon and he greets her with a small smile while showing a guy how to implement a proper submission. The group goes through the same drills again and again until everyone has it, then the training session is called to an end. Ricardo walks up to Paige, unsurprised when she tangles her hand in his shirt and draws him out through the building to the car. "I need a shower," he laughs in disbelief as she waves the keys at him.

"You can have as long and as hot a shower as you want at home," she tells him with a faint smirk. "I may even wash your back." She laughs softly as he gets into the car without any further arguments then.

After they get out of the shower, they lay in the living room, wrapped up in bath robes and each other, Paige telling him about yet another loss to Sasha, and how Charlotte had won by DQ but still lost the divas' championship, allowing Nikki to defeat AJ's record. "Maybe if I had won, I could've saved AJ's record... but Charlotte nor Becky knew her like I do, they don't see how important that record was to her."

He strokes her hair, thinks about it. "Maybe they do," he says softly. "And maybe you would've had more success. But there's no reason to dwell on it, just fight for what you feel and believe in, and I'm sure everything'll end up ok."

"I know, you're right," she sighs. They fall quiet as Total Divas starts, Ricardo tensing when he realizes it's the episode. The one where Kevin teases proposing, Paige spending most of the episode fretting because she doesn't want to marry him, but also doesn't want to lose him... just to accept his proposal at the end of the episode. Now that blindsides Ricardo and all he can do is gape at the ring on her finger in the clip, pulling himself up from under her and walking towards the glass doors leading to the patio without a word said.

All she can do is watch as he pushes the doors open to walk outside. He leaves her behind, walking through the trees and staring up at the dark sky overhead as he remembers her words. How she hadn't wanted to marry him, just to change her mind at the very end of the episode. It's fake, he reminds himself. She doesn't want him, she's made that pretty clear the last few weeks... but still... Kevin's ring on her finger eats at Ricardo until he finally turns and walks back towards the house.

She's sitting on the couch, tears pouring down her face, when he returns and he quietly wraps his arms around her, kissing the top of her head as she sobs into his shoulder. He grimaces and strokes her hair before whispering to her, "I want your word on one thing."

"What?" she hiccups, pulling back and trying to wipe at her eyes. "What?"

"No matter where this whole thing goes, no matter what happens on Total Divas... I never see that ring on your finger when we're together." Her eyes bore into his face and she nods, tears racing down her cheeks. He lightly cups her face and brushes the tear trails away with his thumbs. "That's all I need for now then."

She grips the edges of his robe and pulls him into her, kissing him hard. He easily sinks into her passion, closing his eyes as her hands drift under his robe and he mimicks the action, smirking when she whimpers into his mouth. They eventually end up back in his room and she actually stays the night, neither of them that willing to let go of the other, and for this reason, she's in his arms when he receives the news. "What is it?" she whispers, kissing a trail up his jaw as he stares at his phone, enraptured.

"My travel's been cleared finally," he breathes. "I'm leaving next Thursday." She sits up, her eyes troubled, and they stare at each other. "It's finally feeling real." He hates himself for saying it as soon as he takes a good look at her, her face falling. "Paige..."

"No, I'm happy for you," she struggles to say. "I really am. I want you to be happy and fulfilled and... everything else that I'm unable to give you..." Tears once more streak down her face and she shakes her head. "You know, everything that I have claimed to feel with Bradley and with Kevin, all of the uncertainty and discomfort... I never feel that with you. Even when things are hard, all I want is to be right here, in your arms... staring into your eyes..." Which she does, stroking his face. He kisses her fingers as they ghost over his lips and she smiles sadly. "I love you so much."

He closes his eyes and thinks about everything- what she's just said, how he'll be leaving in a little over a week, how many things he has left to do before he boards that plane. "I love you too," he finally says the words that have been trapped in his throat for the past month, feeling her choke against his skin. "I never stopped." Her tears are happy ones this time as she buries her fingers in his hair and kisses him hotly, everything- Total Divas, India- forgotten for at least these few minutes.