"Mara, are you… Mar… Why aren't you in your wedding gown?"

Mara looked away from the window that she was standing at and looked at her best friend, Celeste aka Kaitlyn, who was standing in the door way. Her blonde and black hair swished as she closed the door and walked over to sit on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Celeste asked

Mara shook her head and stared out from the room's window to the scenic view of Monte Carlo outside.

"If you're not talking to me, I can't help you." Celeste said, "Mar, I'm your best friend. We've known each other for a long time. If there is something bothering you, tell me."

Mara looked at her best friend and sighed. She turned to face Celeste, who had an expected face, waiting for Mara to speak.

"I… I… I don't know if I should go through with this." Mara said, her voice soft, sounding almost like a whisper.
"With what? The wedding?" Celeste said

She looked at Mara and said, "But you were so happy about it yesterday… Why the sudden change in mood?"

Mara threw her hands up, "I don't know!"

She sat down on the bed next to Celeste and continued, "Maybe its cause this is the third time we're doing this? Each time we get to this point of our wedding, something happens and we have to either break our engagement or postpone our wedding."

Mara ran her hand through her hair, "I'm feeling tired, Celeste. Tired from wondering if this is finally the day we'll get married or if something is going to pop up and ruin it."

"Mara, I know it's been hard. But I've seen how he is around you and when he is apart from you. Randy loves you and you know how desperate and miserable he was when you left him." Celeste said

Mara recalled that day very well. It had been the original day of their wedding. But, Randy didn't turn up at the church because of his ex-wife. She had threatened to kill herself and Randy had no choice but to stop her from doing so. Even though he didn't love his ex-wife anymore, he didn't want to cause a life even when things didn't work out between them. When Mara got word of where Randy had gone, she was so upset and angry at him, she walked out of the church.

"Do you remember what you told John?" Celeste asked
"Yeah… I said I never wanted to see or speak to Randy again." Mara replied
"But despite that, Randy still held on. He was such a mess. The board of directors contemplated suspending him indefinitely." Celeste said

Mara looked at Celeste, "They did?"

"Yeah… I never told you about it because I didn't want you to go back to him out of sympathy. I wanted you to see for yourself what you were missing out if you hadn't gone back with Randy." Celeste said

She held Mara's hand, "I know you're tired and afraid, Mar… From thinking if things would work out or not. But, trust me when I say this. Randy is devoted to you. He loves you more then anything in the world. Granted, he has baggages… But who doesn't?"

Just as Mara was about to say something, the door opened and Randy popped his head in. The girls both looked up and Randy stepped into the room fully.

"I thought something was up when I didn't see the two of you downstairs." Randy said

He walked a little closer to the both of them when he realised Mara was still in her t-shirt and jeans.

"Is everything okay?"

Celeste looked at Mara then at Randy and got up as she said, "I'll leave you two to talk."

She looked at Mara, "When you're ready, holler for me."

Mara gave Celeste a small smile and nodded as she watched her leave the room. As soon as the door closed behind Celeste, Randy closed the gap between the two of them and sat down next to her.

"Mara, what's wrong? Why aren't you dressed?" Randy asked

She looked at Randy and sighed, "I-I don't know if I should go through with this."

Randy looked at her, "What are you talking about? Are you nervous? Because I am as-"

Mara cut him off, "No. I'm not nervous. I'm just not sure if I should marry you."

"What? Why? Did Samantha say something to you? I haven't been in contact with her for the past year." Randy said

"I know, I know… It's just…"

Mara looked from her hands back to Randy, "I'm tired and scared, Randy. We've been through this twice and both times, I ended up getting heartbroken. No woman should have to go through one wedding multiple times."

"I know, babe. And I'm sorry for doing this to you." Randy said

He cupped her face and said, "I love you, Mara. You're the only thing that matters. Please don't walk out on me again."

She looked at Randy and even though her brain was telling her to stop and think about what she was doing, she couldn't bring herself to not feel the immense love she had for him. She touched the side of his face and knew that marriage was a risk worth taking.

She gave him a slight smile, "Let's go get married."

It had been two months since their wedding and even though the both of them were enjoying every moment they had together as a couple, there was still some hidden tension between them.

"Whatcha cooking, babe?"

Mara giggled as she felt Randy's arms around her waist and his body pressed behind her in a back hug. He put his head on her shoulder and watched as she continued stirring the pasta sauce that was simmering in the pot.

"I'm cooking pasta. Now, make yourself useful and go toss the salad." Mara said
"Yes, Mrs Orton." Randy said

He kissed her on the cheek before walking over to the kitchen island behind them to toss the salad. He tossed it a couple of times before the doorbell rang.

"Are we expecting guests, babe?" Randy asked
"Yeah. Celeste and John." Mara said
"What?! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I was getting pumped for a sexy night with you." Randy said
"Well, too bad. I thought I told you about it yesterday?" Mara said
"You did? Then it must have slipped my mind." Randy said

Mara switched off the fire at the stove and walked over to Randy.

"You're getting old, Mr Orton." Mara said

She smacked him on the butt and laughed as she hurriedly made her way to the front door before he caught her. She just opened the door when Randy caught her.

Mara giggled loudly as his arms went around her waist. The two of them heard someone clear their throat, and looked up sheepishly.

"Hey, John!" Randy said
"Nice to see that the two of you are getting active around the house." John said

Celeste snickered and Mara narrowed her eyes at her best friend.

"Haha, John. Very funny. Come on in." Randy said

Mara and him both stepped aside as their friends walked into the house. Randy closed the door behind them while Mara led them to the dinner table.

"You guys take a seat here and I'll go bring out our dinner." Mara said

Randy came to join them and Celeste stood up, "I'll help!"

As the girls disappeared into the kitchen, Randy sat down next to John.

"How's everything in the WWE?" Randy asked
"Good. But your fans are missing you." John replied
"And I'm missing the ring. But Mara's more important to me. I gotta make sure everything is good between us before I hit the road again." Randy said
"But didn't you say Mara wants you to go?" John said
"Yeah, she did. But, I don't want to. I want to be certain that nothing is going to come between us before I leave." Randy said
"Or rather someone wants to make a baby before he leaves." John said

Randy looked at John, "I may not be in the ring right now but I won't hesitate to give you one."

John laughed and put up his hand, "Alright, alright. I'll stop."

"So, any news on Samantha?" Randy asked, "Is she out of my life for good?"

"Well, my buddy said that she's currently out of the country. Touring Paris with the large sum of money you gave her called alimony." John said

He sipped the Budweiser that was opened and left on the table by Mara earlier on before continuing.

"And, I heard she's with some rich guy now. So, I won't see her coming to find you." John said

Randy sipped his bottle, "Let's hope so."

"How are things with you and Randy?" Celeste asked
"Good but there's still a slight tension here and there." Mara replied

Celeste took out the plates from the cabinet, "It's expected since you're finally married on the third try and are still paranoid that something will destroy this happiness."

Mara looked at her best friend, knowing that she was trying to be sarcastic.

"Thanks for the sarcasm but I'm not paranoid. I just don't want to jinx it." Mara said
"It's been two months, Mar. It's time to believe that this marriage is going to work out and live it out happily with Randy." Celeste said

She sat the bowls down on the kitchen island next to the salad bowl and turned to Mara.

"It's time to start anew, Mar. Lock those heartache up and carry on with this chapter in your life happily." Celeste said, "You deserve happiness and you should stop worrying yourself."

Mara sighed and stood straight up, "You're right. I, Mara Anne Blair-Orton am going to put this heartache behind me as of today. Sound good?"

Celeste grinned, "It sounds awesome!"

After dinner, everyone sat round the dinner table chatting happily.

"Your cooking is ever so delicious, Mara." John said
"Why, thank you, John." Mara said
"Hey, back off, Cena. My woman, my cook." Randy said

Mara cocked an eyebrow at Randy, "Excuse me?"

He smiled and leaned into kiss her, "I mean my wife."

Mara smiled and kissed him back, "That's better."

She stood up from the table, as did Celeste, picking up the plates to bring back into the kitchen.

"Who's up for some tiramisu?" Mara asked
"Oh! I am!" John replied

Just as the girls laughed and made their way to the kitchen, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Randy said

Mara smiled and walked into the kitchen with Celeste. Randy strode over to the door and opened it. Just before he could get a good look at who it was, the person leapt forward and hugged Randy tight.

Using his quick reflexes, Randy managed to pry the person away from him just as John came over to help. Before either could get a good look at who it was, they heard a plate break behind them. Wanting to confirm his suspicion, he looked at the person.

"Samantha?" Randy said

She smiled even though she looked like she had been crying. Seeing Mara unable to react, Celeste stood in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" Celeste said

"I-I… My boyfriend… He…."

Before Samantha could finish her sentence, she began crying again. Randy may not have any more feelings for her but the one thing that always softened him was seeing a woman cry.

"Sit down." Randy said, "What happened?"

Celeste and John looked at Randy, a little surprised at what he was doing. As Randy was about to sit down, John grabbed a hold of his arm.

"What are you doing?" John asked
"She looks very upset. I need to know what happened." Randy said
"In case you didn't realize, you're no longer related to her." John said

This time, Mara was looking at Randy, awaiting his response to John's comment. But, he merely looked at her and quickly looked away before she could read his expression on his face. Disappointed, Mara shook her head and turned around to head up the stairs before her tears betrayed her. Celeste followed after her and found her in the room with her suitcase on the bed.

"Mar… What are you doing?" Celeste said

Mara cleaned her tears away with the back of her hand as she tossed her t-shirt into her suitcase.

"I'm packing." Mara said
"Will you stop packing and talk to me properly?" Celeste said

Mara just ignored her and continued packing. Getting slightly annoyed, Celeste reached for the jeans that Mara was holding and threw it on the bed.

"Mar. Talk to me!" Celeste said
"What do you want to hear?!" Mara said, looking at her.
"I know what it looks like downstairs but Randy just wants to hear her out." Celeste said
"Really?! In case you didn't notice, he didn't even respond to what John said." Mara said
"Maybe you're over thinking it. Maybe Randy was worried that Samantha might turn suicidal if he said he was going to turn her away." Celeste said
"And how is that any of his concern? He's my husband. Not her husband." Mara said

Celeste sighed, "I know… But you know how Randy is. He softens when he see women cry."

"Then he could have jolly well came over to me and tell me instead of looking away when I looked at him." Mara said

She looked at her best friend, "I thought I'd be able to put the history of his ex-wife and him behind me, Celeste… But I don't think I can do it anymore."

"What do you wanna do then?" Celeste asked

Mara reached over for the jeans that was thrown onto the bed and started folding it properly again.

"I have to move out of here to collect my thoughts." Mara said
"You can stay with me then." Celeste said

Mara looked at her best friend, "Thanks, Celeste."

"No problem. Anything for my best friend." Celeste replied

Just as Celeste stood up to help Mara pack, Randy rushed into the room.

"Mar- Mara… What are you doing?" Randy asked, looking at the suitcase on the bed.

Celeste stopped what she was doing and turned to him, "She's moving out."

"What? Why? What did I do?" Randy asked
"What did you do? Randy, I respect you and love you as a brother but stop being a blockhead. Don't look as if you don't know what you did." Celeste replied

He looked at Mara, "Is this about Samantha? She-"

Before he could finish, Mara stopped him by interrupting him.

"Celeste… Could you leave both of us alone for a while?" Mara asked

She looked at the both of them and nodded at Mara before she left, closing the door behind her.

"Mara… If this is about Samantha, I can explain." Randy said
"Enough." Mara said

She looked at him, "Just stop, Randy. I don't want to hear it. I've had enough. I thought I could handle this but I can't anymore."

She held back the tears that were pooling in her eyes, "Every time we have a moment of bliss, she comes along. And I am left wondering if things are going to change between us."

"But nothing's going to change between us. Samantha just needs our help." Randy said
"Our help or just your help?" Mara asked

Randy looked at Mara and even though he had the answer in his head, he knew that saying it might make things work.

"Just forget it. We both need some time out from this." Mara said, closing her suitcase

As she was about to pull her suitcase off the bed, Randy put his hand out to stop it from moving.

Mara looked from her suitcase to him, "Let go."

"No." Randy said, "I've lost you twice. I don't want to lose you again after all we've been through…"

"Then choose Randy." Mara said, "It's either me or her."

Randy looked at Mara, pleading with her not to make him choose. If there was one thing he considered a flaw in his character, it had to be the fact that he was too responsible. Even if it was an ex-wife who needed his help, he was never one to turn a person in need away.

Mara forcefully pulled her suitcase out from under Randy's hold, "I thought so."

As she made her way pass Randy towards the door, he held onto her wrist.

"Please don't." Randy said
"Third time's the charm, right?" Mara said sarcastically.

Despite Randy's strong hold on her wrist, Mara yanked her arm out of his grip and wheeled her suitcase out with her. As she came down the stairs, she spotted Samantha standing next to John with a rather astonished look on her face.

"Mara… Where are you going?" John asked
"I'm moving in with Celeste." Mara replied, plainly.
"Is it because of me? I'm sorry. I can explain..." Samantha said

She was about to reach out and touch Mara when Mara moved away quickly, as if Samantha had a deadly disease within her.

"Don't." Mara said, "I'm tired. I don't want to fight with you anymore. I don't want to live like this anymore. I love Randy with all my heart and soul but I can't carry on doing that with you constantly fighting for his attention with me."

She looked at Samantha, "You win."

With that said, Mara left the house, despite John trying to stop her, and got into the car Celeste had started up outside their house. As they pulled out of her driveway, she looked up to their bedroom window, expecting to see Randy but there wasn't anyone. Mara tried to hold back her tears but the emotions she felt were too much and as Celeste started driving on the road, she let herself cry silently as she watched the house she shared with Randy fade into the darkness of the night.

It has been a month since she left the house she shared with her husband, Randy Orton. To Mara, leaving that day meant as a cooling off period between the two of them. But a week ago, after not getting any response from Randy, she felt that she couldn't take staying a married couple with him anymore. Mara had told Celeste of her decision and wanted her to pass it on before the lawyer sent out the documents.

She was just tidying up the house when the phone rang.

"Hello? C&M's house! Mara speaking."
"Mara? It's Celeste."
"Oh, what's up bestie?"
"Um… Have you heard or seen Randy?"
"How could I have seen or heard from him? I'm not seeing him, remember?"
"I know… But, I told John to pass him your message since I rarely see him. And, John said ever since that day, he hasn't seen him since."
"Well… He must be off trying to blow off some steam. He'll turn up eventually."
"Can you stop acting aloof? I know you still love him, Mara. Stop pretending like you can cut him out of your life completely."

Mara knew that Celeste was right to tell her off. She had been acting this way because she thought that this would help her in showing her friends and family that she was over Randy. Even if it wasn't true.

"I'm not."
"You can fool other people but you can't fool me, Mara. The pause just now proved everything."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Look. Shouldn't John be contacting Samantha? Aren't they back together already?"
"What are you talking about? John said that after you left that day, Randy became a different person. He got really mad and chased Samantha out of the house."
"John's Randy's best friend. He would cover for him."

Mara heard someone call Celeste's ring name and knew she had to go.

"Look. Tell John to ask Samantha instead. I don't know where he is."

She heard Celeste made an annoyed sound before she spoke.

"I've gotta go. I'll call you later."
"Yup. Bye."

The two girls both hung up at the same time and Mara returned the phone to it's holder. She stood by the table for a while, replaying the conversation she had with Celeste. Was it real? Did Randy really chase Samantha out? Mara shook the thoughts out from her head and remembered that she had to do some grocery shopping so she took Celeste's car keys from the table and headed out.

After her trip to Whole Foods, Mara had planned her route home but instead, found herself at the house she shared with Randy. She pulled up in the driveway and berated herself mentally for coming back. Mara had promised herself that she won't come back until she was certain Randy wasn't going to make her lose faith in him but hearing about Randy's sudden disappearance made her worry.

Mara got out of the car and looked to her left. She had parked right next to Randy's car. He's home.

A part of Mara became excited, knowing that she would see Randy's face again but a part of her was hesitant. She didn't know if what she was doing would set her up for another heartache. What if she opened the door and came face to face with Randy and another woman? One month was a long time for an unexplained separation between a husband and wife. Anything can happen in that period.

Deciding to not go in after all, Mara turned to open the car door she had just closed a minute ago. She was just about to get into the car when she heard the loud sound of glass shattering. Worried, she closed the car door and ran up the front porch steps to the front door. Using her keys, she opened the door.

Once she opened the door, the smell of different alcohol mixed together, wafted out. As she stepped in, the smell of vomit hit her and nearly caused her to lose her lunch. She found the spot where the vomit was and cringed. What happened here? She heard a groan from someone on the sofa and turned to look.

Lying there unconscious with a bottle of gin in his hand was none other than Randy. She looked at the answering machine and blinking at her were the numbers '90'. Had Randy been in the house the whole time? Next to him on the floor was a broken bottle of bourbon which Mara could only assume was a bottle he had finished.

Mara put her bag on the ground by the stairs and hurried over to Randy.

"Randy? Randy, wake up."

He twitched a little hearing her voice but didn't wake up. Getting a little frustrated, she turned to look at the coffee table, hoping to get something to wake him up but there wasn't anything around. She touched his face and lightly stroked his cheek.

"Oh Randy… What have you done to yourself?" Mara whispered

As she was about to stand up to get him a towel to clean him up, she felt a grip on her hand. She looked down to see Randy's hand on her hand which was on his cheek but he wasn't awake.

"Don't leave me, Mara." Randy said, "I know I've been a stupid asshole and I never should have fucked up what we had."

Mara kneeled back down, next to him.

"I fucked up, Mara. I shouldn't have been at Samantha's beck and call. She was just using me to get back at her boyfriend. I should have known better. I'm stupid. I took you for granted and thought that you wouldn't mind. I'm the dumbest fuck out there who doesn't know that he's losing a good thing until now."

She felt a tear roll down her cheek. Seeing Randy like this was breaking her heart. She never knew how much she meant to him till now.

"Now you want a divorce… And it's all my fucking fault. So, I'm going to let you go… When I'm dead." Randy said

As he proceeded to take another swig of his gin, Mara finally put two and two together. Randy was going to drink all kinds of alcohol until he suffered from alcohol poisoning. Yeah, it can get treated but if no one came looking for him, he wouldn't survive.

Mara stopped him from downing the gin and just as he was about to protest, Randy passed out.

Randy woke up, feeling woozy and slightly disoriented. The last thing he remembered was going to the local grocery store to buy alcohol after getting news that Mara wanted a divorce. He looked around and realized that he was in the bedroom. He sat up slowly and swung his legs out of bed. As he stood up, ready to head downstairs, his head started spinning and nearly fell when he felt a pair of arms hold him up and sit him down on the bed.

He removed the hand that he used to massage his head and was surprised to see Mara there.

"You shouldn't be walking around." Mara said

Randy blinked, surprised at her sudden appearance at their house.

"M-Mara?" Randy said

She smiled, "The one and only."

"What-What are you doing here?" Randy asked
"I live here." Mara replied
"But-But you left…" Randy said
"I did." Mara said
"And you asked for a divorce." Randy said
"Yeah. That happened too." Mara said

She sat down next to him, "But someone drank himself into oblivion and attempted suicide by alcohol poisoning and have been unconscious for the past 3 days after getting treated."

Randy looked at her, "Wait… I did that?"

She nodded and Randy tried thinking back to what he did. Even though it seemed vague, he could somehow remember what he did and why he did it.

"I'm sorry, Mara… I shouldn't have been so softhearted. I shouldn't have thought that helping Samantha was going to be okay with you. I didn't think about your feelings and just did what I thought was right." Randy said

He looked at her, "I understand if you still want the divorce. I won't blame you. I just want you to know that no matter what, you will always be the one I love the most."

"I love you too and I'm not going anywhere." Mara said, "When I found you that day, I was so scared of losing you. I never knew what I had until I really stood back and looked. I had a great husband that loved me with all his heart but all I saw was my insecurity setting you up to be something you're not."

"I wanted to come and find you but Celeste told me not to come after you. And when John told me you wanted a divorce… All I could think of was to let you have what you want with me completely out of the picture first." Randy said
"And if you had really gone, I would never forgive you." Mara said

Randy looked at Mara, "I'm sorry, baby…"

She touched the side of his face, "No… I am. Just promise me that you'll never do anything like that again."

"I won't. Please say you'll come back to me." Randy said, holding her hand.

Mara smiled and held his hand tight, "I thought you'd never ask."