A/N: Before this chapter starts, I just wanna give a big shout out to Jay-Winters19 for the expert advice and help. Go check out Jay's work when you get the chance. Those stories are awesome. Anyway, back to the story.

Tuesday Night
Caleb's POV

1! 2! 3!

The crowd cheers loudly as I beat Austin Theory. I do my usual corner pyro stuff before I roll out of the ring and go backstage. Yeah, I love LIVE Events and would love nothing more than to talk about some of the greatest matches I've ever had at them, but I've got other things on my mind right now. My match was one of the last ones on the card tonight and I got the go-ahead from the big boss to leave early, so when I get to the locker room, I put my mask, my glove, and my wrist guard in my bag, throw a hoodie and sweatpants on over my gear, and get ready to head out.

I climb into my rental car and haul ass away from the venue. We're in Austin right now and I've gotta get to Milwaukee. It's nearly a 1,200-mile-drive and the GPS says it'll take almost 19 hours to get there. I pull out a steak I'd made the night before and start eating it like some people would a chocolate bar. And for those of y'all judgin', you've clearly not from where I'm from or haven't done the stuff I've done. Also, watch the Riott Squad episode of Ride Along. You'll see I'm not the only one doing it. As I begin my drive, I crank the volume up and turn on my playlist.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Wednesday
3rd Person POV

Skye wakes up in her hotel room and checks her phone. There isn't a text from Caleb telling her good morning. Boyfriends in the past have left those for her, but Caleb doesn't. He does tell her good afternoon and good night. She looks at her texts and sees there wasn't a good night text from him either. Her mind starts racing and she begins to panic for a second, but she takes a deep breath and relaxes herself. "Maybe he's busy," she tells herself. "He had a house show last night. Maybe he was too exhausted afterwards."

With that, she gets up and gets ready for the day. After hitting the gym, Skye meets friends Aminata, Danielle Paultry (Willow Nightingale), and Adrienne Palmer (Athena).

Adrienne: There she is! I saw Rhea's post. You got a new man?

Danielle: You did!? The one time I'm not on fucking Instagram is the one time something important happens!

Aminata: Yeah, but she won't tell me who it is. I thought I guessed it, but she said she was lying.

Adrienne: I know who it is. Even without his name being in the caption, it was so obvious.

Aminata: It was?

Adrienne: Yeah. Wait, you guys have never met him, have you?

Skye: You have?

Adrienne: I met him at a party for a mutual friend. TJ's a great guy.

Skye: Yeah. Wait, do you know what TJ stands for?

The War Goddess smiles and raises an eyebrow.

Adrienne: Doesn't everybody?

Skye/Danielle/Aminata: We don't!

Adrienne: Just look at him! He looks just like him!

Danielle: Who?

Aminata: He looks like who?

Skye: His cousin.

Adrienne: Oh, you know they're cousins? Then you're really close.

Skye: I am?

Adrienne, nodding: You're so close to figuring out, it's a little annoying. I'd tell you, but I know TJ. He'd want you to figure it out for yourself.

Skye: Yeah. He's annoying like that.

Adrienne, laughing: You better get used to it then.

Timeskip, AEW Dynamite
Skye's POV

The show kicks off and the crowd is excited to see how AEW will run after their competitive bout with WWE. The show starts off with Tony Khan addressing the crowd.

Tony: Ladies and gentlemen, this past Saturday we took WWE to its limit! We may have lost the overall competition, but now that they've seen what we're offering, we have WWE superstars wanting to become All Elite! Now, I have a question: how many of you would pay to see that again!?

The crowd cheers loudly. Tony smiles as they do, but the moment is short-lived.

Tony: Well too bad! The executives at WWE refuse to sign the deal we've offered, so it doesn't look like it'll ever happen!

The crowd boos louder than they cheered. While they do that, Julia and I are going over their match and talking about personal lives behind the curtain. We're up fourth on the card, so we're just making sure the other knows what they're doing when Julia blindsides me with a question.

Julia: Heard you're with TJ now.

Me: What? I mean yes, I am, but how did you...how do you know him?

Julia: Mutual friend.

Me: Is it the same one as Adrienne?

Julia, adjusting her boots: Who? Adam? No, not him. I'm talking about Tom.

Me: Ohhhh. Wait, which Adam?

Julia: The big one. Braun! That's his ring name.

She says finally remembering what his on-screen's character's name is. I nod but I'm going to be honest with you, I had no idea Braun Strowman's name was Adam and I also had no idea Caleb was friends with him. I guess it makes sense. Who else could throw weight around like Caleb?

Julia: Anyway, how are things?

Me: Honestly, I'm terrified. Things are going really great, but it's only been a few days since we started dating. What if things start going downhill? They did with Kyle. What's keeping Caleb from going down the same route?

I ramble. Julia puts her hands up and laughs a little. Her reaction surprises me to say the least. I don't pay attention to it too much as I lean against the wall and run my hands across my face and through my hair.

Julia: Woah. When was the last time you talked to him?

Me: Yesterday morning.

Julia: Huh. How often do you guys talk to each other?

Me: Well we were talking to each other a lot on Monday, then yesterday he randomly stopped. It's like he fell off the face of the earth and my anxiety can't handle it.

Julia: Take it easy, Skye.

She says while putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. I try to control my breathing and keep myself from crying. Anxiety's a bitch. I wonder how he deals with anxiety. Does he just ignore it? Does he even have anxious thoughts? He's always so calm and relaxed. Before I can hyper-fixate on anxious thoughts, Julia snaps me back to reality.

Julia: It's only been a day. He could've had a rough night last night. He's a wrestler, just like us. I know it's scary to think about what could've happened, but I don't think anything bad happened to him.

Me: Y-Yeah, you're right. I'm sure it's nothing.

I say out loud, but I don't entirely convince myself that it's true. In my mind, I pray that nothing happened to him. That he's still the healthy, calm, goofy guy I last saw him as. God, it's only been a day. Why does it feel so weird? I've never felt like this. Ever. Maybe I'd be calmer if I knew him better. I don't know what it is about him, but he stays on my mind constantly. While that'd normally be super sweet, it isn't always sweet when you have super amounts of anxiety.

Kyle: Hey, Skye. Can I talk to you for a second?

I turn my head and see the Aussie Arrow standing right there with a small, friendly smile. He's holding something behind his back, but I can't see what it is. I push off the wall and follow him away from Julia.

Me: Now's not a really good time, Kyle.

Kyle: What? Is something wrong?

Me: Anxiety attack, no biggie.

He chuckles nervously. Then, he shifts uncomfortably and starts talking again.

Kyle: Look, Skye, I wanna talk about us. I heard some rumors that you're with some WWE guy and they got me thinking. I miss you, Skye. I want you back.

What. The. Actual. Fuck. As if my mind didn't have enough to worry about, now my ex wants me back!

Me: Kyle, they aren't rumors. I'm dating Caleb.

Kyle: The big guy with the mask?

Me: Yes. Him.

Kyle: Wow. Sorry, I didn't know. Is he treating you good?

I think back to our first encounter. Then the bar, and then the beach. Not once did he make me feel pressured into anything. Thinking back on those happy moments fixed the train wreck that was my thought process.

Me: Better than anyone. No offense.

Kyle: None taken.

He lies. Clearly, he's hurt. We had a good run together and he was clearly hoping to find a gap in my newly formed relationship with Caleb to weasel into. If I were any other woman, it might've worked. But I'm not and it didn't.

Me: Kyle, things are still very fresh with me and Caleb. There's no pressure, no expectations. We're still trying to see where it goes.

Kyle: I get it. Just know, I'm still going to try to win you back.

Me: Kyle, please don't.

Kyle, ignoring me: Starting with this.

He says, then hands me a single red rose from behind his back. Kyle smiles a smile that would've made me smile months ago. Instead, all I find myself thinking is it's not Caleb's smirk. That damn cocky, knowing, sarcastic smirk. What I'd give to see that smirk just once today.

Me: Kyle, don't. Please. This isn't a good idea.

Kyle: What's the matter? Scared you'll be back with me?

Me: I'm scared you'll ruin any respect I still have for you. Caleb's a good man and so are you. Don't try to start some kind of weird competition with him.

I say turning away from him and going back to Julia. She raises an eyebrow and nods her head towards Kyle.

Julia: What was that about?

Me: He's jealous of Caleb and is trying to win me back.

Julia: Oh? And how do you feel about that?

Me: I wish he'd back off so I can focus on building something with Caleb.

Julia: You really like him, don't you?

Me: You know what they say: "when you know, you know."

While we talk, I look over at the monitor and the camera pans over the crowd. One guy in the crowd looks so familiar. I swear it looks just like Caleb. Damn, I'm so focused on him that I keep seeing him everywhere. Earlier when I went out to the parking lot a short while after the doors opened to get my phone charger, I swear I saw someone that looked just like him climbing out of a black car and running to the building.

Timeskip

Finally, it's our turn to go out and kick some ass. Julia and I are going against the team of Anna Jay and the returning Tay Melo, who despite just having a baby, looks fucking great. If I ever have kids, I hope I come back looking as good as she does. I don't swing that way, but damn Sammy's a lucky guy.

The two are already in the ring and now it's time for me and Julia to make our entrance.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

As I turn my face to look out at the hardcam, I notice something in the crowd. A man with long, dark brown hair and a smirk. Not just any smirk. His smirk. When Julia and I get to our corner, I lean over to her and talk quietly.

Me: Jules, he's here.

Julia: What?

Me: Caleb. He's here!

I say, doing my best to hide my excitement. Luckily, none of the fans can see it thanks to Julia's hat blocking their ability to see my mouth moving. As for the rest of the fans, they can't get a good enough look at my lips to read them. Let's be honest, half of these fans aren't looking at my lips and the ones that are possibly weirder than the ones looking at my ass.

Julia: Oh yeah, I see him. Damn he looks just like him. He's like a romance novel version of Undertaker and Kane.

I laugh, hiding it from the fans by leaning closer to Julia.

Me: You haven't met Luis then.

Julia smirks at what I said and nods slowly. What looks like us talking strategy is really just us trying not to be seen breaking character. Hopefully no one caught on.

Julia steps out of the ring and removes her hat, putting it with her jacket. Our faces go back to serious ones as I start off the match against Tay.

Tay and I lock up and through the motions of headlocks, sneaky takedowns, and setting up for moves only for them to get reversed. Y'know, the usual stuff. We took turns clubbing each other with heavy forearm strikes. I managed to back her up to the ropes, throw her down to the ground, cartwheel in front of her, and boot her right in the chin.

I set up for another kick as she crawls onto her hands and knees. When I go for the kick, she catches my foot. Tay swings my foot away from her, but I spin along the ground and catch her with another kick.

I quickly cover her, but I barely get a two-count. Before I can do any further damage to Tay, I see Julia's hand slowly reach out. I go back to my corner and tag Julia in, watching her carefully as she picks Melo apart and doing my best to avoid looking at Caleb. If I pay too much attention to him, I'll get all happy and my character isn't supposed to be happy right now.

After a bit of dominating the match, Julia finds herself the victim of several double-team moves and cheap shots in the corner. A slap across the face from Anna seems to wake her up, because when Anna went for another strike, Julia ducks under it and responds with a slap of her own that rocks Anna. When Jay stumbles out of the corner, Julia hits her with a DDT. The two roll over and Jules crawls to tag me in before Jay can tag in Melo.

They both make the tag and we run at each other. Tay and I brawl once again, this time at a much higher pace. After a well-aimed kick to my gut, Tay whips me over to the ropes. I bounce back and hit her with a spinning headscissors takedown, throwing her into the ropes. Once we both stand back up, I follow up with a running knee.

Tay stumbles forward, but I keep my momentum going. I hit the ropes and come back before hitting a Code Blue and pinning her.

1! 2! 3!

I stand up and Julia joins me in the center of the ring. The ref raises our arms as we look out at the crowd. Julia and I smirk evilly. It widens when I look out at the crowd and find Caleb with a goofy smile on his face. I can see him mouthing something, he's clearly yelling it. It looks like he's saying "that's my grill" or something. I don't know, I'm not good at reading lips.

After celebrating, Julia and I go up the ramp and backstage. While we're walking up the ramp, I look over at where Caleb was only to find he's no longer there. I look around for him a little without making it obvious, but there's no trace of him.

Caleb's POV

As soon as Skye pinned Tay to three, I jumped up and raised my arms in the air. The people next to me thought it was funny when I pointed at Skye and yelled "that's my girl", so at least I gave some fans something to talk about on the way home. Before Skye and Julia finish celebrating their win, I leave the row I sat in and climbed up the stairs, heading in the direction of two security guards. They stare up at me and one gulps, which is really funny.

Security Guard: S-Sorry. No visitors allowed backstage.

I take out a clear piece of plastic on the end of a black lanyard that has my picture and name on it.

Me: Don't worry about it, man.

One of the guards takes the ID and speaks into his radio. After a few seconds, he nods and hands me the ID back.

Security Guard: G-Go ahead, Mr. Van Horn, sir.

Me: Don't call me that, Mr. Van Horn was my great grandfather. Just call me Caleb.

He nods a little nervously and apologizes, which makes me smile honestly. It's so funny when people get all scared of me. Yeah, I'm 6'10", 345lbs, and I throw people around for a job. That doesn't mean I'll hurt you. Poor kid almost shat himself.

I take the ID from him and walk past them both. I make sure to fist bump or shake everyone's hand as I walk past 'em. Last thing I wanna do is piss someone off right now. Finally, I get to a spot close to the gorilla. Julia is the first to walk through the curtain and her eyes immediately find me. She smiles and nods her head to the gorilla.

Julia: She's looking for you. Hang on, I'll get her.

She dips her head into the gorilla and shouts.

Julia: Skye! Come on!

Skye, from the gorilla: I still don't see him!

Julia: Believe me, you won't see him out there!

I hear Skye sigh defeated. I smile widely as Julia pulls out her phone and gets ready to record. While she starts recording, she mouths "she has been talking about you ALL DAY." I chuckle at that, but I am careful not to let out noise. Can't let her hear me yet, right?

Skye walks out of the gorilla looking somewhat defeated. Then, she turns her head and sees me. Her eyes widen and her silly smile grows across her face. She practically runs at me and jumps onto me, wrapping her arms and legs around me, then smashes her lips against mine. I feel her giggle during the kiss which makes my smile grow. If you didn't know any better, you'd think I'd gone off to war by the way she's acting. I mean I technically have, but that was a few years ago and I didn't know Skye then. We part ways just in time as a voice comes from beside us.

???: 'Taker Junior!? What's up, TJ?

The Chicago-born wrestler looks at me with wide eyes as Daddy Ass Billy Gunn aka Monty Sopp comes walking over to us. Skye hops down and points a finger at me while the Hall of Famer hugs me with one arm.

Skye: 'Taker Junior? That's what TJ stands for!?

Me: Yeah. I thought you knew that.

Skye: How could I have possibly known that!?

Me: Well, I thought when your mom said I look so much like 'Taker, that'd trigger somethin' in your brain.

Skye, fake angry: Well you thought wrong, TJ.

I laugh causing her to smile. She goes to wrap me in another hug, but I hold my arm out.

Me: You really don't wanna do that. I haven't showered since the LIVE Event last night.

Monty: Really?

Me: It was an 18-and-a-half hour drive here from Austin. I left at like midnight and just barely made it here as the doors opened.

Skye: You drove all the way from Austin just to come see me live?

I turn and look at her with a somewhat shocked expression. My smirk stays plastered on my face as I talk though.

Me: Well...yeah. I'd drive anywhere to be with you, Skye. Long distance isn't my style. Oh, and sorry for not texting you last night or this morning. I did see your texts but, again, busy drivin'.

Skye, nodding: Well, I'm gonna go grab my stuff. I'll see you later.

I nod. Julia puts her phone up and points at Skye, silently excusing herself before leaving. I nod again, then turn back to face Daddy Ass himself. Why do I keep calling him that? Is it weird I keep doing that? I don't really know, I don't really care.

Monty: So, you and Skye?

Me: Why is everyone so surprised?

Monty: I thought it'd be Julia.

Me: She's married.

Monty: She is?

Me: Last I heard, she was.

Monty: Oh. Well, anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to talk to you about what's coming up. When are we doing this whole thing?

We go over the details of the storyline we are about to share. What? You didn't think I was gonna tell you now, did you?

Locker Room
Skye's POV

As soon as Julia and I get back to the locker room, I see Aminata holding a bouquet of roses. She hands them to me with a large smile.

Aminata: He gave you roses? Lucky girl.

Roses? I can't believe he got me roses! I take the roses and quickly take a picture with them, then send it to him.

Caleb's POV

I feel my phone buzz and pull it out of my sweatpants pocket. It's a text from Skye of her holding a bouquet of roses.

Skye🖤💙: Got your present!

I look down at the picture for what must've been a few seconds too long as Monty looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

Monty: Everything alright?

My eyebrows furrow as I continue to look at the picture. Where the hell did those come from? I didn't send her any flowers. I thought about it, but I didn't have time to stop and get any.

Me: No. Someone's makin' a move on Skye.

Monty: What do you mean?

I show him the texts and he looks at the picture of the very happy Skye holding the bouquet of flowers I didn't get her.

Monty: And you didn't give those to her?

Me: When would I have been able to sneak those back here without her noticing? If I'm gonna surprise her, it would be a way bigger surprise.

Monty, smiling: Like driving across the country?

Me, grinning: Exactly.

Monty: What're you gonna do about it?

Me: What is there to do about it? I don't know who sent it, my relationship with Skye is still fresh, and I don't know how she feels about the other person. Besides, she's a big girl.

As I talk to him, I send Skye a text back that reads "I didn't get any flowers".

Skye's POV

Me: He didn't send the flowers!? Then who di-

Before I can finish my question, I see who did it. Kyle is standing across the hall with one rose still in his hand. Julia and Aminata look on as my smile fades quickly. I glare at Kyle, then chunk the bouquet in the nearby trashcan. I couldn't grab my bags and storm out of the locker room fast enough. Kyle follows me and tries to get my attention, but I ignore him. The sooner I'm next to Caleb, the sooner we can deal with this like adults.

Caleb's POV

Monty, fist bumping me: Alright, I gotta go. Skye's coming and she doesn't look happy. Good luck.

I fist bump him then hang my head. Fuck! Not even half a week together and I've already pissed her off. I run my hand through my hair while turning to face her. When she gets close to me, she wraps her arms around my neck, pulls me down, and kisses me.

Me: What was that all about?

Skye, looking behind her: I know who sent the flowers.

I look in the direction she looked in and see Kyle standing there with a rose in his hands. It's a great thing Skye's got her arms wrapped around me. I wouldn't risk hurting her and it's definitely keeping me from giving into the urge to...how to say this politely...remove the competition.

Me: Kyle.

Kyle: Caleb.

Skye's POV

I keep my arms wrapped tightly around Caleb's torso as I look between the two men. There's so much tension in the room it's scary.

Caleb: Nice rose. Is that for me? For future reference, I prefer the black ones.

Kyle: Uhhhh no, it's actually for-

Caleb, after sighing: Kyle. Sense the tone. I don't know how they do shit in Australia, but I know how we handle shit in the States, especially in the South. Now, I'm gonna be a gentleman and give you the benefit of the doubt because frankly I'm too tired to do anything else.

Kyle, getting closer: You don't scare me, TJ. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get Skye back.

Before Kyle's foot touched the ground the first time when he stepped forward, Caleb had already moved me to a safer spot and stepped forward a little. While moving me, he whispers to me and looks at me out of the corner of his eye.

Caleb: You want him back?

I try to speak, but I can't. Instead, I find myself just shaking my head. I watch the big Southern man nod once and stand up straight in between me and Kyle.

Caleb: Two things. One: she's not some animal you can swindle into taking you back by offerin' it some nice treats. Two: you step up to me, you better be ready to back up what you say. You feelin' froggy then jump, boy. Otherwise, me and Skye will be heading back to the hotel, we're gonna shower off, and everyone is gonna have a damn good night.

I stare up at Caleb as he lays everything out plainly to Kyle. It's honestly impressive. He didn't get angry. He didn't attack Kyle. Instead, he told him exactly how everything is going to play out. He controlled his emotions so well, even I was surprised by how peaceful yet threatening he was being. This is the second time I've seen him do something like this. I just pray it doesn't end like the bar incident did. Passing out felt so weird. I do not recommend trying it.

Kyle backs off, but he shoots me a small hopeful glance as if to ask me to consider choosing him while also asking me to keep Caleb back. Like I could do that. He's nearly 350lbs and he's a giant. He could step over me if he wanted to! Seriously, my head only peaks over the top rope and he steps over that every match.

I look at Kyle's pleading look and decide to handle one of his requests. I take Caleb's hand and tug on it a little. He doesn't budge at all, but his eyes look back at me.

Me: Come on. Let's go. He won't do anything. Right?

I shoot Kyle a glare and he raises his hands defensively as Caleb looks back over at him. The big man nods a couple times, then takes a few steps backwards. Once he's got enough space between him and Kyle, he turns around and runs a hand through his hair. He's clearly exhausted and with his adrenaline dying down, it won't be long until he crashes. He also has this look of regret across his face. Like he's ashamed that I saw him get angry.

Caleb's adrenaline dies down with every step towards the car. He helps load my bags and gets in the driver's seat. I look at him with a concerned look. I've never seen him like this. Angry. Anxious. Exhausted completely. He clearly knew I was looking at him because he speaks up as he cranks the car up.

Caleb: Driven in worse condition than this. I'm just tired, that's all.

Me: Babe, it's okay. I can drive. The hotel is right there across the street. You need to rest.

Caleb: I will.

He says offering me a small, comforting smile. Caleb puts the car in gear and we leave the venue. I give him directions to the hotel I'm staying at in an otherwise silent car ride.

Me: Where are you staying tonight?

Caleb, smirking: I have no idea. I didn't get that far when I decided to do this.

Me: That's good 'cause I wanted you to stay with me tonight.

I look over at him and see a smile on his face. It's exhausted, but it isn't forced. He pulls into the parking lot of the hotel and we both head up to my room. When we get inside, Caleb goes to the bathroom and turns on the shower. After a second, he comes back out and looks at me.

Caleb: Go ahead. I'll go after you.

Me: No, you won't. Go first.

Caleb: Skye, just-

Me: Caleb, I care about you a lot and it's very easy to make me cry and right now I'm very worried about you. If you don't want me to cry, go first.

Caleb sighs and nods. One of his arms reaches out like he is going to try to comfort me, but he stops himself. He goes into the shower and I hear music coming from the bathroom, but I can't tell what song it is. Whatever it is, it's sad and slow.

Caleb's POV

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Fuckin' stupid. How could I let my anger take over like that? Now she thinks I'm some kinda monster. I almost made her cry! She deserves better than that...than me...

Skye's POV

When he gets out of the shower, he comes out in nothing but a towel. He says lowly that the shower's ready for me. I nod and thank him, then walk past him. I stare at his sadden face as he sits on the edge of the bed and hangs his head. What's going on in his head? I need to take care of him. The shower can wait.

I crouch down in front of him and reach out to hold his face in my hands, but his head turns away. I reach my hands forward again and grab his face, making him look at me while I gently stroke the side of his face with my thumbs.

Me: What's going on?

Caleb: You...deserve better...

Me: What?

Caleb: I let myself get all angry in front of ya an' I shouldn't have.

Me: So? Everyone gets angry, babe. And you weren't the only one angry. I told him earlier today that I didn't want him back and he decided to try to buy me with a bouquet.

Caleb: I almost made you cry.

Me: Because I'm worried about your health, not because you scared me!

I say with a large smile. He chuckles a little and rubs the back of his head.

Me: You didn't scare me. For the second time, you kept me safe from a situation I wanted no part of. You can call yourself a monster all you want, but at the end of the day, you're my monster.

He looks at me fully and I take my chance. I lean forward and crash my lips against his. Our slow kiss starts to heat up and I push against him. He wraps his arms around me and falls back onto the bed, pulling me on top of him. I straddle him and continue the heated kiss.

We don't reach for the other's clothes, not that we're wearing much. I'm still in my gear and he's only wearing a towel. Caleb keeps his arms around my back and I wrap my arms around his neck. God, I love this feeling. I don't ever want it to end. I'd do anything to keep feeling like this. I'd do anything to stay with my protector...my monster.