A/N: I know I've fallen behind of current events, but oh well. I have my own set of events that I want to play out, so let's ignore the real-time storyline.

Thanks to Tenshi no Koneko and Sonib89 for reviewing the last chapter. Sorry this one's taken so long to get up.

"Tahni! Oh, good. I hoped we'd catch you before you left."

"Mom?" Tahni smiled as she saw her mother approaching her across the lobby, with her father, her older brother Jason and her friend Michael. She hugged them all dutifully, then shook her head, "I'm sorry guys, but I have to get to the arena." Her mom nodded, waving a hand impatiently, "We know, we just wanted to wish you luck. We'll catch up with you afterwards."

"Okay, enjoy the show."

"Tahni, we gotta go, love." Glenn called to her now and she acknowledged him, before hugging her family again. She then jogged over to Glenn, who grabbed her hand and led her out. It was rare that her family got to see the shows, but since Extreme Rules was being filmed in Tampa, it wasn't too far a stretch for them to come from Jacksonville.

Her parents watched her go and her mother, Denise turned to look at her father, Gabe, "I thought she was with that Orton boy." Gabe shook his head, watching as Glenn helped Tahni into their taxi, "Probably best not to ask."

In the car, Tahni rested back against the seat and rubbed at her eyes, "Well, that was awkward." Glenn let out a small snort of laughter, "I thought you got on with your parents."

"I do, I just haven't gotten around to telling them that I'm not with Randy any more. My mom loves him. I swear, she'd adopt him if she could."

"Scary thought."

"Gross thought." Tahni wrinkled her nose and stared out of the window. Glenn watched her closely. She was more tense today than she had been since her transfer. She was panicking over the possibility of seeing Randy for the first time since their break-up. Glenn had been careful not to bring it up. He was silently determined to keep the two of them apart, but his eyes couldn't be everywhere and that worried him.

He'd been watching Smackdown recently and he had seen Randy's behaviour. If it had been before he'd known Tahni, the renewed violence of his attitude wouldn't have bothered Glenn, but it wasn't and the change in him, the anger he displayed bothered him.

"Stop it. There's steam coming out of your ears." Glenn was surprised to find that Tahni was now looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "There is not."

"Is too. It's making my nose run." Tahni responded, wrinkling her nose. Glenn just rolled his eyes at her.

Randy was stood in front of the mirror in his locker room, slowly rolling tape around his wrists, his eyes never left his reflection. He was undecided about what he wanted to do about Tahni. Part of him wanted to avoid her, to ignore her and pretend that she didn't exist. It would suit both their purposes not to see her. Some other instinct complicated things, though. The part of him that yearned to see her, even if just to yell at her. He wanted to touch her, just to be sure that he hadn't dreamed her.

He was still angry, furious in fact and he wanted her to know that. He wanted to make sure she was completely aware of how much damage she had done and leave no doubt in her mind that their split had been entirely her fault. Regardless of what Ted said. If she had just behaved more appropriately, things would enervate gone this far. No other man would put up with her friendship with Glenn being the way that it was and it was a miracle that he had done so for so long. It was unfair of her to expect him to accept it.

Ted had tried to tell him that it was just part of who she was, but it shouldn't be. She should have tried harder to save them. If she had loved him as much as she had said that she did, she would have taken his feelings into account more than she had. She would have understood that he needed her to want him more than she wanted Glenn, but she had never made that compromise. She had refuse to bend at all for him.

He wanted to tell her all of this, to vent his frustration and anger at her. Then again, he knew it would be painful to see her, especially having seen how happy she had been on Raw. He wanted her to be miserable, to feel as horrible as he did all the time. He felt like there was something evil that had crawled inside of his gut and refused to let go. It was constantly there, torturing him, twisting him and destroying him. He hated it, but at the same time clung to it desperately. He didn't know how he would feel without it. He didn't know if there was enough of himself left to cope without it.

A knock on the door disturbed his quiet and he called that it was alright to enter. Cody walked inside, just looking at him for a few moments, before speaking, "Just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine." Was the very quiet, deliberate answer. Randy tore of the end of the tape, finishing the wrapping of his wrists. He set it carefully to one side and then leaned forward to press his hands against the edge of the shelf than ran under the wall mirror. He bowed his head for a moment, before turning his face towards Cody, but not fully looking at him, "Is she here?"

Cody shifted uncomfortably and his answer was reluctant at best, "She just arrived. I should tell you, Randy…all of her family are here. Please, I'm asking you as a friend; don't do anything to upset her." Randy licked his teeth and turned his eyes to the mirror again, gazing at his own face, then flicking his eyes to look at Cody in the reflective surface. "Do you think that I would?"

"I think that you might. Even if you didn't mean to." It was as honest as answer as anyone could have given and it was best coming from Cody, who had been such a close friend over the recent years. Randy chose not to respond, "You should get ready for your match." Cody sighed and nodded, then left the room without further conversation. Randy went back to looking at himself in the mirror, gazing darkly at his own icy eyes. Still, he was undecided. He wasn't sure what he wanted more; to avoid her existence entirely or to confront her.

"I think I need a brace for my leg."

"I think you need a brace for your head."

"Charming." Tahni rolled her eyes at Glenn and stuck her tongue out. She was sat in front of her dresser in her locker room, trying to tame her hair into some kind of order. She still hadn't entirely gotten used to the red and was examining it with intense scrutiny. Glenn was watching her boredly, lounging in a chair with his arms folded, "Are you nervous?"

Tahni shrugged a slipped a bobby pin into the front of her hair, "A little. I've never been in a cage match before."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant." She responded without looking at him as she slipped another pin into her hair. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure. I walked into a door on my way here." Tahni let out a short burst of laughter and lowered her hands from her hair, spinning in her chair to look at him, "You did what?"

"No lie. I was on the phone and I went to leave my locker room and walked right into the door."

"I figured that if that ever happened you'd just bust straight through it without even noticing."

"I'm not a monster truck, T."

"You look like one." She paused and leaned forward a little to sniff him, "You smell like one too." Glenn swiped at her, but she ducked back quickly, smirking impishly at him. There was a knock on the door at that point. Glenn went to answer it, but Tahni held up a hand to stop him and whispered quietly, "Don't. It's Ted." Glenn frowned, glancing at the door and then back at her, lowering his voice to a whisper too, "I thought you liked Ted."

Tahni could restrain a giggle, "Just wait." The knock repeated, more loudly this time. Tahni shook her head at Glenn, who just raised his eyebrows and waited. Again the knock came, this time followed by Ted's voice, sharp and curt, "Tahni. You in there?" A few second past, before there was the sound of Ted beating his fists repeatedly against the heavy door. "Taaaaaaahni! Open the door or I'm coming in, even if you're naked!" Tahni giggled quietly and slipped to the door, flicking the lock. It clunked into place quite loudly. "I heard that! Don't you lock this door! Hey! Cauldwell! I know you're in there! Let me iiiiinn!" Tahni covered her mouth to mask her giggles, Glenn just watched with amusement. Now there was a scratching down and Ted dragged his nails down the door and put on his best impression of a zombie, "Taaaaaaaahni….I want to eat your braaaaaaaain!"

"No! Be gone evil beast of hell!" Tahni called back, straightening up to press her hands against the door. Having gotten a response, Ted upped his effort, "Braaaaaaains! Give me braaaaaains! Juicy Teabag, braaaaaaaaaains!"

"Don't make me get my shotgun!"

"You don't have a shotgun!"

"You broke character!"

"I'm an intelligent zombie!"

"No such thing!"

"Yes, there is! You told me so!"

"When?"

"Ages ago!"

"I have no memory of this, therefore it must be a lie!"

"It's not a lie!"

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Then came the sound of Ted sobbing and howling, whilst banging his hands against the door, "Please, let me in1 It's cold out here and there are things after me!"

"No!"

"Pleeeeeeeease, Tahni! They're gonna e- Oh, hey, Steve. What am I doing? Uh….nothing, just…rehearsing…for a play."

"He's lying! He's trying to get in my dressing room to molest me!"

"That's not true. I swear." The sound of Ted's foot hitting the door caused Tahni to jump back slightly. She unlocked the door and opened it sharply, "Don't you kick my door you, cad! Oh." Tahni's eyes widened hugely as she saw Ted stood there with Steve Austin. When Tahni had first joined the WWE she had gained something of a reputation for getting rather star struck and babbling nonsense at the superstars she most admired. She had yet to come face-to-face with this particular idol and was now utterly flabbergasted. "You're…You're…"

"Don't stare." Ted stomped on her foot causing her to yelp. She recovered quickly and stuck her hand out, I'm Tahni, it's nice to meet you, your majesty." Steve's eyebrows shot up, but he shook her hand, "Never been called that before. I prefer Steve, or Stone Cold if you wanna get formal."

"Can I call you Stony?"

"No."

"Hey, Steve, good to see you." Glenn had emerged and the two men shook hands. They chatted amicably, whilst Ted and Tahni stared. Ted leaned over to whisper to Tahni, "I think we're witnessing the meeting of two icons…which one would you root for?"

"What an outrageous question! Glenn's my best friend!"

"Stone Cold?"

"Totally."

"Okay, my match is up. Stay out of trouble, okay?" Glenn frowned anxiously at Tahni, who saluted him, "Scouts honour." Glenn looked sceptical, but Ted was still around and seemed to be making it his mission to keep her occupied. He walked away reluctantly, leaving the two alone. "Teddy, I'm hungry."

"That's why you're so fat." Tahni threw her boot at him and he ducked quickly. "That wasn't nice."

"This is what happens when I'm hungry. Violence ensues. If you were to go and get me a sandwich, I might be nicer." Ted let out a noise of exasperation and stood up, "Fiiiiiine." He stomped out of the locker room and Tahni hopped over to get her boot, which she quickly laced up.

She checked her appearance in the mirror and then slipped on hr black vest, doing up the single button. She twisted from side to side to make sure it was sitting right with her tank top. She jumped at the knock on her door and quickly went to answer it, "Jeez, Ted, that was fa-." She stopped dead as she opened the door, feeling suddenly as if she'd been hit with a freight train. Despite herself, her eyes drank in the ice blue eyes, the copper skin, the arms she'd come to know so well and had been so suddenly expelled from. Her heart hammered in her ears and she was sure it must be audible. "Randy."

"Expecting someone else." There was a dark look on his face, one Tahni couldn't ever recall seeing on his face, even when they had first met. There was something intimidating about him, something overbearing and it almost frightened her. She tried to answer coolly, hiding as much of her panic as she could manage, "Ted, actually."

"May I come in?" He asked, perfectly politely, but Tahni shook her head in an almost desperate way, "I'm actually a bit busy."

"This wont take long." He walked past her then and she was so desperate to avoid physical contact that she jumped aside, giving him access to the room. He shut the door once inside and rounded on her. He immediately grabbed her waist and drew her to his chest, forcing his lips over hers, bullying her into a brutal kiss that left her mouth feeling bruised. She'd didn't yield to him, though and he could feel her completely rigid form rejecting the contact. He released her and stared down at her, "Not happy to see me?"

"What's happened to you?" She gasped, trying to catch her breath as she stepped back from him. This wasn't her Randy and she didn't like it one bit.

"You happened to me." It was said angrily and she flinched. He enjoyed seeing it, knowing that it had hit home and hurt her. Maybe now she'd understand. "You changed me, aren't you happy?"

"I never wanted to change you, Randy." It was whispered, gently. She moved past him and sat down slowly at the dresser, pressing a hand to her forehead. Randy was instantly behind her, his hand son her shoulders, fingers biting into her skin until she gasped in pain. Her head shot up and she looked at him through the reflection of the mirror. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop it!" She shot to her feet, knocking his hands away. She turned to face him in an instant, her eyes blazing at him, "Stop acting like I'm the villain! Stop acting like you're the only one that's been hurt! Stop playing these stupid games!"

"You're the one playing games! You're the one who walked out on me!"

"You pushed me out! You never let me in and you left me long before I left you! You took your heart out of our relationship and there was nothing left for me to hold onto!" She was crying now and she brushed angrily at her eyes, annoyed by her own reaction. The sight of her tears seemed to break something in Rand and the anger drained out of him. He reached for her gently this time and drew her into his arms, holding her close to his chest, "I know."

She lingered for a few moments, just enjoying the closeness of him that she had missed so much, before pressing her hands against his chest and pushing him away, "You know, but you wont apologise." Randy sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, "Tahni-"

"No. Don't. I've apologise over and over for anything I have ever done to hurt you, but you wont say it. Not even once. You still think you're right."

"Yes."

"You think I should choose between you and Glenn."

"You already have."

"No. I never chose and I never will." She turned her back to him, gripping the back of the chair in front of the dresser and bowing her head. "I know you don't understand that and until you do, there's nothing left to say."

Randy's temper flared again and he grabbed her arm, pulling her to face, "I have more to say!" At this point, the door opened and Ted walked inside, carrying a plate, loaded with sandwiches. He froze when he saw the scene before him. Randy immediately released Tahni's arm and stalked past Ted, out of the room. Tahni seemed to deflate instantly, dropping down into her chair and laying her head in her hands.

Ted set the plate down on the dresser and crouched in front of her, "What happened?" Tahni shook her head. She lowered her hands from her face and Ted gripped them instantly. She took a deep breath, looking down at him, but not quite meeting his eyes, "Exactly what I expected to happen. Nothing more."

"Did he hurt you?" Tahni frowned at him and then shook her head fervently, "No, of course not." This was said almost indignantly, as if the mere thought of it were absurd, but she hadn't seen Randy lately. She didn't know how different he had seemed. Ted wouldn't have put it past him, as much as he hated to believe it of his friend.

"Tahni, are you alright?" Glenn charged towards her, his face a mask of concern. She instantly lifted her hands to stop his oncoming tirade, "I'm fine. Really." She threw a scowl at Ted, who looked utterly unrepentant at having told Glenn about Randy's visit. "I knew it was a bad idea to elave you alone. Ted, where were you?"

"I was getting food."

"You shouldn't have left her!"

"Glenn, stop it! Don't be ridiculous. I am not a child and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Tahni protested loudly, but Glenn shook his head dismissively, taking her arm gently, "Clearly not." Tahni tugged her arm free sharply and glared at him, "I do not need constant supervision and certainly not from you! At some point you're going to have to get it through your head that I am not some little kid that tags along on your coat tails. I'm an adult and I do not need you watching me very second. Randy is not dangerous and he was perfectly justified in wanting to see me. I'm sorry if that doesn't suit your idea of who I am." She then grabbed the door handle and yanked it, before storming from the door.

She let the door slam behind her and ignored Glenn's calls for her to come back. She checked the time. Her match was on soon. All she needed to do was occupy herself until then. She needed some air. With that thought in mind, she headed straight for the stage door and threw it open. It was a little cold outside and she shivered, but took in a deep breath, feeling her mind clear instantly.

"You look as good as I feel." Tahni jumped and spun around, a smile gracing her face as she spotted Melina, leaning against the wall opposite her. "Hey."

"Looking forward to our match?"

"You have no idea." The two grinned at each other. Melina moved across to stand beside her, a more serious expression appearing on her face, "I know the move across has been tough on you. I know you've left a lot behind. I just want you to know that if you ever wanna chat, I'm always about." Tahni smiled gratefully at her, "Thanks, Mel."

"Reckon you'll be good for Raw, might stir the others up a bit, having someone with real talent around." Tahni snickered and shook her head, "They're not all talent less bimbos."

"Only mostly. Nah, they're okay, just don't tell them anything you wouldn't want repeated. It's like a sewing circle, I swear." The two shared a laugh, before a technician stuck his head through the door to call them for their match.

They headed down to the curtain together. Melina's music hit first and she gave Tahni a quick slap on the back before she ran out. Tahni hopped up and down on the spot, rolling her neck from side-to-side and wringing her fingers together as she waited. She didn't notice that was being watched and as her music hit, she ran through the curtain with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

The match itself was intense. Neither Melina nor Tahni had wrestled in a cage before, so it was a new and exciting prospect for them both and they made the most of it. Both were athletic and used the cage to show that off.

Melina began to clamber up the cage and Tahni followed suit, a few seconds behind her. As Melina reached the top, Tahni scrambled faster to catch up with her and threw her back down to the mat, before jumping from her own height to slam down on top of her.

Tahni was already proven off-screen as an exceptional climber and used it to her advantage, climbing halfway up the cage and performing a half moonsault onto Melina, but she had moved out of the way and Tahni landed hard on the mat.

The back and forth was fairly even, for every hit one gave, the other gave back just as hard. Tahni's new finisher was given a spectacular boost by her being able to utilise the cage and build enough momentum to run along the chainlike to land on Melina with the cross body slam. She instantly scrabbled to her feet and ascended the cage.

Melina crawled to her feet and gave chase. Tahni reached the top, but at exactly the wrong moment, Melina grabbed her ankle. The two women had a moment of eye contact as they realised what was about to happen. Tahni's balance had already passed her centre of gravity and she felt herself falling. She was falling to the outside of the cage. She desperately tried to grab onto it as she fell, but her fingers reached just inches too short.

She shut her eyes and prepared for the impact, knowing it was going to hurt, but right at the moment she knew she would hit the ground, she felt strong arms catch her. Her eyes flashed open and she found herself looking at Randy in shock. His face was entirely neutral as he set her on her feet. He braced her for a moment, before nodding to her and then heading back the ramp. The bell rang to signal that she'd won, but she was still staring after Randy.

The crowd were going insane, but she didn't hear them. One of the medics came to check her over, but she was fine. She turned to the cage, her eyes meeting Melina's, who looked as shocked as she did.

As soon as they were backstage, Tahni's eyes raked for any sign of Randy, but he wasn't anywhere in sight and then Melina caught up with her, gripping her forearms and demanding her attention, "Tahni, I'm so sorry! God, I don't know what happened. It's so lucky that Randy was there. Are you alright?" Tahni nodded mutely, still in shock. Melina shook her gently, "Are you sure?" Tahni nodded again and mentally shook herself, "Yes, I'm fine. Honestly. It's alright. It wasn't your fault. I got my timing wrong. I knew you were behind me, I should have thought."

Melina shook her head and pulled her into a tight hug, then released her sharply, "What was Randy doing out there?" Tahni said nothing. She knew as much about that as Melina did. What had he been doing out there? Their earlier meeting hadn't exactly ended on good terms and he was the last person she would have expected to see.

"I really don't know. I'd better go get changed, I'm meeting my family." Melina nodded, seeming to understand that it was a subject that was best not broached just now, "Okay, call me later. Please?" Tahni nodded and promised, then headed back to her locker room to change and prepare for the meeting with her family.

"Goodness! That must have taken some planning! I was in pieces, I really thought you were going to get hurt." Tahni smiled at her mom and sipped her soda. Her friend Michael nudged her gently from beside her, "Told you that it was a bad idea to invite your mom." He muttered, causing Tahni to choke on her drink with laughter. She rolled her eyes at him and looked across the table at her parents, "Did you enjoy the rest of the show?"

They both nodded, but it was her brother, Jason who answered, "It was brilliant. I've never been all that interested in wrestling, but it was fascinating." Tahni smiled at him and stabbed her fork into her pasta, "I'm glad you had fun." So far she had managed to avoid talking about Randy, but she knew it was only a matter of time and as if she knew what her daughter was thinking, her mom chose that moment to ask the question, "Wont Randy be joining us tonight?" Tahni shifted a little in her chair and set her fork down, "Um, actually, mom-"

"Sorry I'm late. Got caught up signing autographs." Tahni's head shot up and she stared at Randy as he shook her father's hand and her brother's, then kissed her mother on the cheek. He was perfectly at ease with them, as if everything were normal. Michael was the only one who knew about Tahni's break up from Randy and she saw him tense in the corner of her eye.

Randy sat down beside Tahni and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She was too frozen with shock to protest. His presence certainly avoided the awkward questions that she didn't want to answer, but she knew there would be consequences for it. She didn't think she could bear the entire meal having to play act at being the happy couple with him, when just the sight of him made her heart ache.

He was the perfect gentleman throughout dinner and Tahni parents seemed to adore him, even her brother seemed to like him, which was a miracle in itself. Of course, they'd met him before, but they'd never spent any length of time together. Tahni had lost her appetite, in fact she felt a little sick, but she smiled in all the right places and laughed at all of her father's terrible jokes.

Once dinner was over, her parents declared that they were going back to their hotel, Jason was driving home that night and Michael was going with him. They all said goodbye outside of the restaurant. Gabe smiled broadly at Randy as he shook his head, "You take care of our girl, now. God knows she needs all the help she can get sometimes."

Tahni flushed a shade of scarlet, "Thanks, Daddy." Denise slapped her husband's arm, then hugged Tahni fiercely, "You take care, darling and keep in touch." She released Tahni and turned to Randy, hugging him too, "It was lovely to see you again, Randy. You'll have to come to us next time." He smiled at her and nodded, "I'd like that."

"Bye, Mom. Bye, Daddy." After that there was a quick goodbye to Jason and Michael, who pulled Tahni to one side, "What's going on, T?" Tahni shook her head, glancing at Randy who was talking to Jason and inspecting his car, "I don't know. I'll have to get back to you on that one." Michael roll his eyes and hugged her, "Take care, T. Miss you."

"Miss you too, Mikey." She smiled at him and gripped his hand, before turning to her brother, "Drive safely, Jay. Call me when you get home safe." Jason nodded and pulled her into a haphazard hug, kissing her forehead, "Stay safe, T. We'll see you again soon."

Randy and Tahni stepped back onto the curb and waved as they drove away. Once they were out of sight, Tahni turned to Randy, frowning, "What the hell was that?" Randy shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I figured you wouldn't have told them. Thought I'd save you the awkward questions." Tahni shook her head in disbelief, lifting her hands to thread into her hair as she stared at him, "You are unbelievable!"

"I was trying to help."

"Well, stop! I don't need your help. Not yours, not Glenn's, not Ted's, not anybody's! I wish you'd all stop treating me like a child!" She turned and stalked away from him, but he followed her, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Upset me? Then what did you mean to do? Huh?" She stopped again to glare at him and he looked uncomfortable for a moment. "It was just nice, for a while. You know? Pretending things were normal."

"I don't want to pretend! I'm sick of pretending! I'm sick of acting like everything's alright when it's not! It's completely messed up"

"I know it is." She tried to walk away again, but he caught hold of her and spun her to face him, catching her mouth in a kiss before she could protest. The kiss was angry, filled with fury and frustration, pain and longing. Tahni didn't fight him. Her hands slid up to grip painfully at his shoulders, whilst his own pressed her tightly into him.

She broke away suddenly, gasping for air and stumbling slightly. He reached for her again, but she held out a hand to ward him off, "I can't. I can't do this." She turned then and ran back in the direction of the hotel. She'd been flying out again tomorrow and she could forget this whole mess.