Canary and the Coal Mine

Thank you (and happy birthday!) to my awesome beta crazy-wild-and-free for all the amazing work you do for me. And, thank you to Red Pepperz for all the inspiration you gave that helped this chapter get finished!

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From across the room, Bryan plucked a chocolate out of the box and held it up, giving me time to get in position. Settling myself on the center of the bed, I gave him a thumbs up, ready and waiting. He leaned back, tongue sticking out and one eye squinting shut as he lined up his shot.

His arm pulled back, I braced, and he launched the chocolate across the room.

It smacked into the wall three feet to my right and burst apart, sending nougat flying in every direction. A chunk landed next to my leg; I grabbed it and tossed it in my mouth. Brie made a noise of disgust as she finally turned her attention to us instead of her makeup while I chewed thoughtfully.

“That’s gotta be hazelnut,” I deduced, licking off my fingers. Bryan motioned to wait, flipped the chocolate box over, then nodded eagerly.

“That’s 32 in a row!” he cheered; we both threw our hands up in victory. Brie stared between us in shock and Bryan glanced up at her from his spot on the bed. “What?”

“You guys have eaten thirty-two pieces of candy?!”

I scoffed and pointed to the wall, dotted with brown smudges from misguided chocolates. “Of course not. Your boyfriend has the accuracy of a blind howler monkey.”

Bryan actually gasped in resentment and popped a chocolate into his mouth before flinging another at me. This one hit the lamp behind me and sent it clattering onto its side, nearly onto the floor.

I could feel the exact moment Brie regretted agreeing to room with us this week. She irritably snatched the box from her boyfriend and skirted out of his reach before he could make a grab for them.

“No, the two of you are done!” she snapped, pushing Bryan back onto the bed when he got up to follow the chocolates. “You’re going to ruin dinner – and this room – if you keep at it!”

“It’s not our fault you left us mostly unsupervised,” I pointed out. As she gave me an unamused frown and went to put the box on the dresser, I reached my hand out palm-up. She gave me a doubtful look and I reminded, “I’m not going to dinner.”

“You still could,” she hinted, and now sent her frown in the direction of the bathroom door as she raised her voice. “Nicole is taking her sweet time whoring herself up for John, so you could still get ready in time.”

There was a faint mutter of bitch! from the bathroom as Brie turned to give me a hopeful smile. I raised a brow and asked,

“Do I still need to wear a dress?”

“Well, it’s formal attire only at the restaurant –“

“If jean shorts and sneakers don’t count as formal, I’m not going,” I reminded. When Brie went to start that argument again, I held up a hand. “I don’t even like Valentine’s day. I have chocolates – as soon as you hand them over – and grainy Hallmark movies to watch. I’ve got a busy night ahead of me.”

Though still debating about trying to coax me along, Brie finally tossed me the box of sweets (more to just keep her boyfriend from commandeering them) as the bathroom door finally swung open. The three of us turned to look at Nikki’s outfit. Bryan instantly cackled at the sight of her dress as he asked incredulously,

“It took you half an hour to put on less clothes than you wear to the ring?!”

Nikki pouted and crossed her arms, pushing her already-dangerously-exposed cleavage up even further. Brie made a noise of disgust and jammed her finger back to the bathroom. “Absolutely not. We’re looking nice for this dinner.”

Nikki flipped her hair over her shoulder as she gave her sister a sharp look. “I do look nice, Brianna.”

“You’re not wearing that to the restaurant, Nicole –“

“The reservations are in twenty minutes,” Bryan cut in before they could get going, shaking his head as he shoved to his feet and licked the chocolate off his fingers. “We don’t have time for her to change.”

“So let me get this straight,” I mumbled around the candy I’d just stuffed in my mouth. “Nikki can wear strategically placed scraps of fabric to the fancy dinner but I can’t wear shorts?!”

My best friend ran her hands down her hips and shot me a seductive smirk as she purred, “well, to be honest, I’m not planning on making it to the restaurant.”

The three of us groaned and I shook my head, waving her off towards the door. “Alright, I’m definitely out. You three have fun with that.”

Brie linked her arm with Bryan as she eyed Nikki warily. “Oh trust me. We’re not associating with that –“ she motioned to her sister as they headed for the door, “if we can help it.”

Nikki flipped her off as she sauntered away to grab her purse. Brie blew me a kiss that I pretended to catch as she towed Bryan after her. The moment her back was turned, Bryan pointed quickly to the box of chocolates. I lifted one in question, he gave a thumbs-up, and I flung it at him. Unlike him, I was able to hit my target. He managed to catch it and stuff it in his mouth before he was pulled out of the room.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Jellybean?” Nikki asked as she crossed to me, giving me her signature Bella-pout. “You’re technically my Valentine.”

“There’s no technically about it,” I argued, giving her a look. “I asked you before Mr. Cena. But,” I added as I motioned to her outfit. “that’ll just go to waste on me, so I guess I’ll share you tonight. Go seduce your man and have a good night.”

Nikki hmm’d and studied me curiously. “What are you going to be doing here all by yourself?”

“Seeing how many chocolates I can stuff in my face before I puke,” I began, and then glanced towards Brie and Bryan’s side of the room. “Possibly putting glitter in Bryan’s beard oil again, we’ll see where the night takes me.”

Nikki put her hands on her hips and asked me slyly, “I guess a better question would be… what’s Dean doing tonight?”

Instantly my cheeks beginning to heat up; her smirk grew. With a huff, I hopped off the bed and skirted past her, snatching the remote for the TV and the flopping back onto our bed. “For your information, I really do have things I need to get done –“ she opened her mouth and I added quickly, “none of which include Dean. He doesn’t – we’re not dating, and neither of us even like this stupid holiday –”

“Yeah, well you both like each other,” she pointed out; I honestly had nothing to throw back at her at that. My face was undoubtedly a bright shade of pink by now and I pointedly focused on flipping through the channels instead of looking at my best friend.

“Deny it all you want, my little lovesick Jellybean,” she teased, reaching out and pushing my hair back behind my shoulders, then giving my cheeks a playful squeeze. “You know where we’ll be if you change your mind. Well… where Brie and Bryan will be. John and I –“

“Yeah, trust me, I got it,” I grimaced, though I cracked a smile as she ducked and pulled me into a hug. “Have fun, Snickers.”

“You too,” she said, studying the movie I’d turned on before pulling back and pressing a kiss to my cheek. I groaned and rubbed my face against my shoulder, trying to smear off the lipstick. Before she left, she paused at the door to say, “I feel like you’re the only one I’d ever have to say this to, but please don’t get yourself into trouble watching crappy Alan Baldwin movies.”

“I – okay, first of all, it’s Alec Baldwin. And this isn’t even him. It’s William Baldwin.”

Nikki scoffed. “Who names their kid Alec?”

“His, apparently,” I laughed, rolling my eyes at her. When I noticed she was still watching the screen I pointed out, “isn’t John waiting?”

She waved a hand in dismissal, though she did finally step into the hall. “He is. And that’s not William Baldwin. I know Alex when I see him.”

“Clearly not,” I snorted, and corrected again, “it’s Alec!”

She paused just before the door shut, leaning back in to narrow her eyes and point a finger at me. “No.”

“YES! YES! YES!” I threw my hands up in the air, mimicking Bryan’s chant until Nikki had rolled her eyes and left the room. I tried to ignore the echo of the door shutting on the now-empty room. It was so stupid; they would all be back in a few hours. Well, minus Nikki.

Better not wake up to John Cena in the bed with us again, I huffed, tossing a chocolate into my mouth. I tried to focus on the movie, I really did. I even managed to follow the plot for about four minutes, but I just couldn’t get into it. I mean… okay, so saying I had things to do had been a bit of a lie. But, I mean, I could find things, right?

Of course I could! There was… I could paint my nails! Nikki would be busy with her boyfriend, she wouldn’t mind. They didn’t turn out as nice as her work did, but it’d used up a little time. Once they’d dried, I busied myself tidying up the room, packing up my suitcase (all three things I’d left lying out), and I’d even taken a walk around the hotel. Inside and out. Twice.

When I finally got back, only an hour had passed. Jesus, was time just stopping and starting as it wanted tonight?! The whole day had gone by fast, and now that I wanted things to hurry up, it was at a standstill. Moody and admittedly a little sad, I flopped back onto the bed and fished around the bed for my phone, shoving two more chocolates in my mouth.

From: Snickers
John says hi, and thanks for sharing me ;)

Ew. Not replying to that.

From: Bry
That chocolate you threw me was cherry cordial. I know you did that on purpose.

Of course I did. Neither of us liked them and I wasn’t gonna eat it. As I went to tuck my phone away, I saw another message waiting.

From: Deano
u stayin outta trouble, little finch?

The smile on my face couldn’t be helped. We’d been talking all day – okay, okay, all week – and this morning he’d texted me happy valentines day, darlin. We’d both been polite about it at first, but when it came out neither of us actually liked this holiday, I honestly couldn’t tell which one of us was more relieved.

He’d told me about his plan to hit a couple of bars with Roman and Seth, and before I knew about the ridiculous dress code, I’d been planning on dinner with the twins and their dates. Neither one of us seemed to be the romantic type – and, again, we weren’t even dating – but I had to admit that I kind of wanted him with me.

To: Deano
More than you are I bet. How’re the bars in Arkansas?

To my surprise, he’d already replied before I’d even set my phone down.

Deano: fuckin boring. were already back. hows dinner?

To: Deano
Didn’t go. Apparently nice restaurants frown upon sneakers and t-shirts.

Deano: their loss then. what r u up to?

For once, Dean “Old Man” Ambrose seemed to be on top of the whole technology thing. Normally I went a half hour between replies; tonight they were almost instantaneous. Was he as eager to talk to me as I was to talk to him? Or, was he just bored now that his night had ended early?

At first I hadn’t noticed the self-doubt that Randy had left behind in me. But the more I talked to Dean, the more I realized how insecure I was about how other people saw me. To Randy, I was the best of a bad situation. I was who he’d gone to when there was nothing else to do (or, apparently, no one else to do…)

With Randy I wasn’t his first option, or usually even his second option. And when he did end up with me, it’d seemed like he was always waiting for something else to come along. I’d just… never quite felt good enough. Maybe it was partly from dating someone as well-known as Randy, but I’d been afraid he’d just drop me and leave as soon as I became too much, and with him I always felt like I was right on the edge of that.

It hadn’t helped that it ended up being pretty much what he did.

Now, as much as I tried not to, I felt like that with Dean. I knew I could be a lot; it was my specialty to annoy the ever-living crap out of people. I was goofy, weird, and just a little too much. Dean was a twenty-seven-year-old hardcore guy that – if I remembered Mox right – stayed up all night partying and hanging out with the coolest people he could find. Hell, he’d just gone out bar hopping with his friends and now he was opting to text a nineteen-year-old trash gremlin?

Right. As if I was his pick.

Yeah, okay, he’d kissed me. He said he’d wait, that he wanted to be with me… but Randy had said the same thing, and I’d bought into it without a second thought. I trusted people too fast, I let them too close too fast. Usually it wasn’t a big deal. I mean, I’d lucked out with Bryan and the twins.

But, there had been Drake, and then Randy... as much as I tried to convince myself that I was totally past all of his BS, there were still days my heart ached and still days where I blamed myself for not being good enough.

Honestly, I liked Dean so much that if he felt the same way about me that Randy had, if I was just someone to throw away when something better came along, I couldn’t handle it.

I didn’t want to think about it right now; I wouldn’t question it. Much. I’d just take his friendship (or, whatever this was) while it lasted. At least texting Dean, I didn’t feel completely alone.

To: Deano
Right now? Trying to figure out the plot to this movie. Probably would be easier if I’d actually watched the first half.

I hadn’t been expecting another reply at all, because what would he say to that? Instead, what I got back was,

Deano: hallmark channel?

I snorted to myself; apparently there really wasn’t anything to do tonight if you didn’t have a Valentine.

To: Deano
You enjoy cheesy romcom’s?

Deano: don’t confuse me with roman.

To: Deano
It’s hard not to. You guys are practically identical. I’m pretty sure you’re at least half Samoan.

It really didn’t surprise me when I didn’t get an answer after that. It hurt, but like I’d said, I’d expected something else to come along. Twenty minutes later, I’d fully given up on the plot of the movie. Honestly I wasn’t even sure if this was the same one I’d been watching earlier. Instead, I’d resorted to seeing how many chocolates I could toss up and catch in a row when I heard a knock on my door.

The movie wasn’t even over yet; it had hardly been ninety minutes. Did Nicole have a stunningly early night with John? Not in that outfit. Did Brie and Bryan inhale their food and come straight back to the room? Not on Valentine’s Day. Frown on my face, admittedly a little concerned, I crept to the door and got on my tip-toes to look through the peep hole.

No way.

I pulled the door open and stared up in perplexed disbelief at Dean. Alright… admittedly, most of the staring was ogling. Seeing him in regular clothes out of the ring just did things to me, okay? Especially when he looked as…. Well, as soft as he did.

He was standing in the hall in a pair of loose jeans and a band tee that was so faded I couldn’t even read the logo. He’d ditched a hat tonight and his auburn curls were soft, messy, and actually kind of adorable. And, most important of all, he had a bag of takeout food from Zaxby’s in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other.

If I had to imagine anything that would make me want to actually care about Valentine’s day, it was this exact sight standing right in front of me.

Only after he raised his brows and held up the food did I realize I’d just been standing in the doorway staring at him silently for almost half a minute. Face instantly burning with a blush, I quickly scuttled back and let him step in. As soon as I shut the door, I turned to stare up at him, trying to comprehend the fact that he was here.

Taking my silence as a bad thing, Dean cleared his throat and started, “I uh, I can go if y’want. Just thought you might be hungry since y’didn’t go out with your friends –“

“No, no, I don’t want you to go,” I said quickly, heart sinking at just the thought of him walking back out the door. When he continued to stare at me, considering I really didn’t sound that convincing and hadn’t cleared anything up, I added a little softer, “I just… don’t know why you’re here.”

Dean frowned a little more. “What’dya mean?” Well, now that I had to say it out loud, it sounded stupid and a little pathetic. And very childish. Exactly how I didn’t want to sound with him. Fingers rested under my chin and he tipped my head up gently. “Y’can tell me.”

“I… you were hanging out with Roman and Seth having fun, and I’m just here moping around and eating chocolate. I’m not really the most exciting option for your night.”

I don’t get why you’d pick me.

Dean studied me for a few moments, his soft blue eyes flicking between my own as he sat the bag of food and chocolates onto the dresser. Wordlessly, he stepped up to me and pulled me to his chest, enveloping me in a tight, secure hug. Instantly, I hugged back. My hands tangled into his shirt and I took a long, deep breath. The soft scent of his earthy cologne wreathed around me and settled the uncertainty that had been rising up.

His head dipped down until his cheek rested against mine, lips brushing my ear as he murmured, “I like hangin’ out with ya, little Finch.”

He didn’t need a lot of words to reassure me when those few were so simple, soft, and honest.

I knew he felt me smile against his chest. He turned and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek as he pulled back, leaving me flustered and blushing. Thankfully, he took the initiative and grabbed the food again, moving further into the room. It wasn’t hard to figure out which bed was mine, what, with the near-empty chocolate box and a dozen wrappers strewn about.

As I gave a nervous chuckle and scampered past to unceremoniously sweep the wrappers off the covers and kick them to Brie and Bryan’s side of the room, Dean turned to observe the mild chaos scattered around us.

“What, uh… what the hell happened here?”

His eyes were fixed on the admittedly-suspicious brown smudges against the wall beside him; I stifled a snort. “Chocolates. Bryan’s aim is shit, as is evident.”

“Right,” he said slowly, sounding totally unconvinced as he shifted a little further away; I couldn’t blame him. Questionable brown stains in a hotel room deserved a wide berth.

It didn’t take long for Dean and I to end up stretched out on the bed. We’d settled into leaning back against the headboard, the box of chicken wings and sodas nestled between us and the chocolates passing back and forth. Currently the box was resting on Dean’s stomach, already half gone.

We’d turned off the Hallmark movie – most certainly not the William Baldwin movie I’d started with – and had instead pulled up Pandora on my phone. Because, according to Old Man Ambrose, my taste in music was awful and he had to educate me.

“Mmm, yeah, I know this one,” I confirmed as the next song started up. Dean fixed me with a disbelieving brow-raise and I defended, “it’s Soundgarden!”

He scoffed and shook his head. “There y’go cheatin’ again.”

“I don’t cheat, Ambrose,” I huffed, elbowing him playfully as he went to grab a wing. It fell back in the box and I gave him a cheeky grin. As I snagged it instead, I got drops of sauce sprinkled over my shirt and I groaned. Smooth.

“Serves y’right,” Dean snorted as he passed me a napkin, watching as I irritably wiped the spots off my tee as I gave him a playful scowl. As I tossed the napkin aside he pointed out, “now y’really ain’t dressed t’go to that restaurant.”

“Oh, trust me, I was already well-below that bar without my pathetic eating habits,” I laughed, motioning to my frayed jean shorts and the ratty tie-dye tee. “Honestly, the hot sauce probably makes this look a little better.”

“Y’look good, darlin’,” he said idly, giving me a brief smile before diving back into the wing box to snag one before I could stop him again. As I blushed furiously and started to mumble a disagreement, he teased, “so what, y’didn’t wanna put on one’a Wonder Twin’s dresses?”

I made a face at his question, which got him laughing.

“Most of those things don’t even have enough fabric to even be considered lingerie. You should’ve seen her outfit for tonight,” I giggled, shaking my head at my best friend. “I at least hope John Cena appreciates it. I mean, I willingly sacrificed my spot as her Valentine for the guy.”

Dean hmm’d as he tossed the finished wing into the bag at the foot of the bed. Or, at least that’s where I hoped the bones were ending up, if our aim was better than Bryan’s… “Thought you weren’t one for the Valentine’s Day shit.”

“I’m not, at all. Nikki loves it though, and up until this year she’s been single for it. She always felt left out because Brie has Bryan, so I took on the duties. The only good thing about this dumb holiday is all the candy that’ll be half-off tomorrow,” I shrugged, pointedly plucking a chocolate out of the box resting on him and popping it in my mouth. “It’s just never been anything to celebrate, you know? It’s just a day to make you feel super alone. I never had a boyfriend, I never got the little secret admirer gifts at school...”

Dean made a noise of irritation and shook his head, taking a swig of soda before he huffed, “those little gifts you could send your crush? Fuckin’ bullshit. Never got shit on Valentine’s day myself, an the one fuckin’ time I shelled out for someone, I got screwed over.” At my curiously-raised brows, he elaborated, “Spent like ten bucks gettin’ this chick a dozen chocolate roses, right? Had ‘em signed from a ‘secret admirer’, all that cheesy shit, y’know? Before I could even take credit for it, this lyin’ sonnuva bitch swoops in first.”

“That is bullshit,” I laughed, shaking my head as I popped another chocolate in my mouth. Healthy eating and a well-balanced diet? Never heard of it. “I never got them either. Actually, the only actual Valentine’s gift I’ve ever gotten was a WWF pay-per-view. Which, in my opinion, is one of the only acceptable gifts to give someone.”

“Which one was it?” he asked curiously, perking up; of course he’d want to know. And, of course, I had the memory of a goldfish.

I hmm’d and rolled my eyes up, trying to think back. “I don’t remember much of it, honestly. The only match I really paid attention to was the main event. The steel catch match with Stone Cold and Vince McMahon. It was that one where Big Show debuted, and he like crawled through the ring mat –“

Dean snapped his fingers and nodded eagerly, “yeah, yeah! In ’99, right? St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. He was Paul Wight or some shit back then –“

“Yeah!” I laughed, staring up at him in surprise. “You remember that?”

“’Course I do. Had that badass tag title match with Jarrett and Owen Hart,” he reported, and then frowned at me. “How the hell d’you remember? You were like fuckin’ four or somethin’ –“

I scoffed, feigning offense and throwing him a scowl. “I was practically six, thank you very much. I’m pretty sure that night is like, one of my core memories. My dad and I loved Stone Cold, so we’d been dying for that match. It was one of the only pay-per-views he actually bought. He had a bunch of his friends from work come over, ordered like half a dozen pizzas, and I got to stay up for the whole thing... it was epic.”

We both laughed and fell into comfortable silence. A new song started and I frowned as I listened. After a few moments, I rolled my head up towards Dean and asked,

“What’s this one?”

“Deftones. My Own Summer,” he told me, already bobbing his head along with the beat. “My favorite band, an’ my favorite song. It’s good shit.”

“I can totally see fifteen-year-old Dean rocking out to this in his bedroom,” I grinned as I listened to the song with a lot more vested interest now. He smirked and nodded, shrugging his shoulders against the headboard.

“Least ‘til my mom came in an’ unplugged the boombox. Always said I’d lose my hearin’, playin’ it so fuckin’ loud,” he chuckled, and nodded towards my phone. “She’s who got me into ‘em, though.”

“Are you close with your mom?” I asked him, tipping my head back to look up at him again. He gave a small, dimpled smile as he met my gaze with a nod.

“Yeah. My pops was a shithead. Drunk most’a the time, an asshole all’a the time, so it… uh, it was just us for a long time.” Though I could tell he wasn’t telling me the whole story behind that, I had a feeling he wasn’t the kind of guy that took well to being badgered for information he didn’t wanna give.

Instead, I just nodded my head in understanding and smiled a bit. “Does she like you wrestling?”

Dean bobbed his head again. He took a swig of soda, eyes fixed on the wall ahead. “Yeah. Always did. Spent a lot’a summers with my gramps, he was real big on it too. He got me hooked on it when I was like, five or some shit, an’ I been on it ever since. He an’ Ma always had my back in this.”

As the Deftones song came to an end and the next one started, I perked up. “This one’s Metallica!”

“What, y’tellin’ me you know Soundgarden and Metallica, Finch?” he asked me, looking pleasantly surprised.

“Of course! I grew up on this kind of music.”

Dean tsk’d and shook his head. “An’ somehow y’never heard’a Deftones…”

“Shut up,” I laughed, rolling my eyes and shoving his arm again. He gave me a toothy smile, both of us giggling together for a moment as we listened to the music.

“What about your mom?” he asked me a few moments later, looking over at me. Unprepared for that, I froze for a heartbeat, then propped myself up on my elbow to break eye contact and study the chicken wings intently. Smooth, Jamie. Real casual.

“I… never really knew her. She, uh, she and my dad divorced when I was four. So I don’t remember much,” I dismissed, trying to keep my voice neutral. When I glanced up at Dean I could tell I’d done a terrible job, but he didn’t push me. I’d respected his privacy, and he respected mine.

After a couple moments listening to the song – and some more wings – Dean looked over at me again and asked, “your dad ain’t around either, is he?”

With a small smile, I shook my head and leaned back against the headboard beside him again. Mom was a subject I didn’t go into, but I liked talking about dad.

“No. He died when I was eight.” At the apologetic look that crossed his face, I added quickly, “It’s okay, really. I don’t mind talking about him.”

Dean nodded in understanding, tossing the empty chocolate box to the end of the bed and shifting to lay on his side. He propped up on an elbow and moving just a hint closer. “What happened?”

“Car accident. We lived in this super small town in Colorado. Ouray. It’s smack dab in the middle of the San Juan National Forest, along the 550 highway. There’s this really, really sketchy part of it between Silverton and Ouray called the Million Dollar Highway. It’s not lit at all, no guardrails, and it’s got these super sharp twists and turns all through it, with huge drop-offs right beside the road,” I explained. Dean already knew where I was going, but he didn’t interrupt, just nodding for me to go on.

“My dad was a miner. He usually worked at this silver mine like, ten minutes from our house most days. In peak season, though, there was a bigger demand for miners and he took up a job further south. He’d drive down to this even smaller city called Hesperus and work the whole weekend, then drive back up and work overnight shifts the rest of the week in Ouray.”

Dean let out a low whistle and shook his head. “Jesus, that’s a hard fuckin’ week. Gotta be dedicated t’do all that.”

The smile on my face grew a bit at Dean’s praise, and I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he really was. After mom… well, it was just us for a bit. Dad buckled down and took on as much work as he could to support us. We ended up moving in with my dad’s best friend, Uncle Carlos. They rented a house together and dad was saving up to get us our own place.”

“He ever get y’guys outta there?” Dean asked softly, and I shook my head.

“I got access to his savings account when I turned eighteen. He only had about $2,000 stashed away, but… he tried, you know?” Dean smiled softly in understanding, nodding for me to continue. “Well, Uncle Carlos worked at the mines too so on weekends, dad dropped me off with his parents in Silverton on Friday night, and he’d come get me super early in the morning on Monday.”

For a heartbeat I paused, mind going back to that morning. I hadn’t talked about it in a long time. Not since I’d told the twins about my dad a couple years ago. Dean didn’t pressure me, and he let me gather my thoughts for a few more moments.

“Honestly, I don’t have any memory of the crash. The police report says he probably swerved to avoid all the stupid elk that roam around up there, and we ended up at the bottom of a ravine. I don’t remember any of it. Breaking my leg, sitting in the car for hours, being airlifted to the hospital… nothing,” I said with a shrug, turning to look down at him again. “Metallica and my yellow cast. That’s all I remember. I was super excited to show my dad the color I picked out for my cast. Yellow was his favorite and I knew he’d be upset seeing I’d gotten hurt so I wanted to give him something that would make him feel better about it. I didn’t know that… you know.”

“Yeah,” Dean said softly, bobbing his head again. Instead of letting us sink into the silence again, he asked, “Metallica?”

“Mhmm. Fade to Black. It was mine and my dad’s favorite song. Of course, I had no idea what it was about, but dad loved it and he always sang it. He had that whole album on tape and since there was no radio signal in that part of the pass, we always listened to it. When I have dreams about the accident, or about dad, it’s always playing. So I don’t know if I really heard it that day, or I just think I did. Either way, though, it’s dad.”

Dean let what I said sink in, and after another couple of moments he frowned and asked, “y’were only eight? You go live with your grandparents or somethin’?”

“For a bit, but I didn’t stay with them,” I dismissed; another touchy subject I didn’t necessarily want to go into. “I ended up in foster care. I ran away when I was almost sixteen and ended up in Indiana…”

“Y’weren’t even sixteen when y’met Drake?” Dean asked in surprise, a frown coming over his face. Funny how people always had that reaction with him…

“No. I met him in January 2009, just after New Years. I turned sixteen in March…” his face only darkened and I shifted to turn and look at him. His head was turned to the side, eyes fixed on the wall, jaw tense. “Why?”

He quickly shook his head, glancing up at me before looking back to the wall; the frown didn’t leave. “Nah, s’nothin’. Just… didn’t realize y’were that young.” We fell quiet again, and he cleared his throat. “D’you, uh, still talk t’him?”

The snort I gave caught him off guard. When he looked back to me, I shifted to mirror his position, rolling onto my side and propping up on an elbow. “God, no. Last time I talked to him was the night before I left the indies. We got in a huge fight. He said I wasn’t allowed to leave so I just walked out. Haven’t heard from him since.”

“Good. Trust me, he ain’t changed,” he said quietly, the tone of disdain catching me off-guard. He and Drake were friends, right? I mean, when I’d been there, the two of them were practically brothers. What had changed? I wanted to ask, but it was clearly another thing he didn’t want to go into, and I didn’t want to push him. Not with the good night we’d been having.

So to simultaneously change the tone and test the waters I told him, “Bryan punched him in the face before we left, apparently.”

“Good, he fuckin’ deserved it,” he laughed, grinning at the thought. Which not only confirmed he was absolutely adorable, but that there was something that’d happened between he and Drake... “You an’ him did good, gettin’ out when y’did.”

Our 3am Nashville talk filtered back to me, about how deep into the indie hell-hole he’d fallen… I wished I’d been friends with him instead of Drake. What if it’d been him I’d run into first? Maybe we could’ve helped him get out, helped him before he’d needed Heyman and the McMahon’s. He could’ve come to Florida with Bryan and I. Maybe things could’ve been different for him. Except… would we be where we were now, if it hadn’t played out the way he did? Because… I kind of liked right now.

“I know the Heyman-situation isn’t great, but I’m glad you’re out now too. I’m glad you ended up here,” I told him, giving a soft smile. He quirked a brow and asked,

“What, here in WWE? Or here right now?”

“Both,” I answered immediately. “I’m glad I get to kick your ass in the ring now, and I’m glad you’re here stuffing your face and listening to 90’s metal bands with me.”

He heard the honesty in my voice and his face softened into a look of genuine, touched surprise.

“You are?”

When I nodded, I felt something shift between us, igniting the ache for him that’d been burning since Survivor Series. I could see the same fire in him, in those soft blue eyes that were flickering between my own.

He reached out to me slowly, fingers skimming up along my jaw to tuck my hair behind my ear. Instead of pulling away, his hand moved back up to cup my face, thumb sweeping softly over my cheek.

Dean didn’t move away when I pushed the box out from between us and scooted up against him. He actually smiled just a bit as my own hand went to the back of his neck, tugging him down to close the minimal distance left between us.

Our lips met softly this time, gentle and warm and sweet. His hand tightened just a hint on my cheek as he deepened the kiss, parting my lips with his tongue gently. When I moaned softly at that he shifted closer, easing me slowly onto my back. Holding him to me with the hand on his neck, I rested my free hand on the arm he had propped beside me.

Dean chuckled against my lips, feeling my fingers exploring his muscles. Yeah, I was taking full advantage of the moment. Sue me. He pulled back just a bit to let us both catch our breaths, forehead resting on mine.

“Never had anyone say that t’me,” he admitted so softly I almost missed it. Despite how incredibly turned on I was (y’know, the whole pinned-beneath-my-crush thing I had going on and all) my heart actually ached. The hand on his arm moved to his face and I drew a bigger smile from him as I pushed his hair back from his forehead, just like he wore it in the ring.

“Well then,” I hummed, sitting up just enough to give a chaste kiss. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Dean smiled sweetly down at me for a moment, a softness in his gaze that I’d never seen before. I was completely and totally melting beneath him. When I went to tug him down to me again, though, he pulled back just a hint.

“Best t’take it slow,” he reminded me softly, easing back so he wasn’t mostly on top of me anymore. The warmth of him against me was instantly missed. I must not have hidden my disappointment quick enough because he said quickly, “sorry, darlin’. It ain’t that I don’t like – I just don’t want you regrettin’ –“

“I know,” I promised him, giving a smile of reassurance as I scooted back a bit as well. “For the record, I don’t regret this, and I still definitely don’t regret the last time, either.”

That got a toothy smile. He chuckled and went to tease me back when we heard the key card in the door.

Someone was back.

Already?! I groaned to myself, throwing a quick glance at the clock as Dean and I scrambled further apart. It wasn’t even nine yet! He flipped himself back over and I shot up, snagging the box of wings to help feign innocence. I flopped against the headboard just as the door swung open.

“Brianna let it go –“

“She thinks she can look at my man an’ – an’ just leave without me kicking her ass? Huh? I’ll kick her ass,” Brie slurred as the two of them stumbled into the room. Ah, drunk Brie. That would definitely end their night early. She was a little… aggressive… when she’d had one too many.

“Sure you will, sweetheart,” Bryan absently dismissed for what was clearly not the first time. He briefly let go of her to set the to-go box on the dresser and she nearly faceplanted into the wall. As he scrambled to catch her before she wiped herself out I asked,

“What was it this time?”

“Bottomless mimosas and a call with Hunter that took me out of the restaurant for half an hour,” he sighed, looking down at his girlfriend with a mix of exasperation and amusement. “Should’ve known not to leave her alone. Honestly, I’m impressed she did this so quickly.”

“I’m impressed you got her out of the restaurant without her fighting anyone,” I noted, watching Brie’s eyes starting to drift shut. She sagged a bit and Bryan scrambled to keep his hold on her. “Did some woman really check you out?”

The deadpan frown on his face got a snort out of me. “His name was Steven, and all the poor guy did was ask if we wanted a dessert menu.”

“Oof, his mistake,” I tutted, shaking my head. “You saw Brie with the chocolates earlier. Sweets enrage her.”

“Only when they’re flung around a hotel room,” she mumbled against his chest, eyes totally closed now. Dean and I laughed as Bryan rolled his eyes. As he shuffled his girlfriend towards the bed, though, he paused and looked between Dean and I.

As if he’d somehow just noticed the large, hard-to-miss wrestler sitting directly to my left, his brows pulled together and he straightened himself up just a bit more. Well, as much as he could with Brie all but hanging in his arms.

“Not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked, tone implying that any answer besides no, absolutely not wouldn’t be a good one.

“Besides the song we were listening to?” I hedged, hitting pause on the music I’d completely forgotten about until that exact moment. I didn’t think he’d even heard my reply; his scrutinizing gaze had stopped on Dean and his frown was deepening by the second.

Please don’t say something embarrassing, I pleaded silently as the moments ticked by in silence. When all he did was continue to stare, I felt Dean starting to shift beside me. A glance up at him told me he didn’t appreciate the not-so-subtle judgement Bryan was throwing at him. Now I kind of wished he’d just say something. Only Bryan could make silence worse than direct insults. Not wanting either of them to snap and go at one another, I broke the tension and offered,

“Chicken wing?”

Bryan flicked his scrutiny to me. “From where?” I held up the box and finally the guarded wariness slipped off his face. He ooh’d and nodded eagerly, his contempt from a second ago completely forgotten. “You know I love Zaxby’s –“

“I know,” I grinned, grabbing a wing and chucking it in his direction. I’d planned for it to smack him in the face but without hesitation he dropped Brie in favor of catching the food. Thankfully, he managed to get her onto the bed and all she did was flop onto her back and give an annoyed grunt. It took him a second to piece together the last three seconds, but when he heard Dean and I trying to cover our snorts it hit him, and he looked down in mild alarm when he realized what he’d done.

“At least she landed on the bed,” I laughed; Bryan jammed the chicken wing in my direction.

“You say nothing of this.” His gaze flicked to my left. “Either of you.”

“What, about how you practically threw your girlfriend down for chicken?” Bryan’s eyes narrowed as Dean and I shared a humored smile. I shrugged my shoulders. “Our silence isn’t free.”

“Hey, uh-uh. Family rule, no more extortion,” he reminded; I felt Dean’s curious gaze on me. I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t an expert in the area, but I had a hunch most families didn’t have to exclusively rule out blackmailing each other.

“I’m pretty sure that no lying or hiding things is a family rule too, right?” I pointed out; his face fell and I smirked. “You pick, Danielson.”

Bryan opened his mouth to argue, paused, and then deflated when he realized I was right. He reached down, flipped Brie onto her stomach to stop her snoring, and kicked off his shoes as he headed for the bathroom to change.

“Give me your demands in the morning. That jacuzzi tub is calling my name.”

Gross. When the bathroom door shut and we heard the water turn on, Dean sighed and got to his feet. Even though I had my friends back, I didn’t want him to leave. As he slipped his shoes on, he saw the expression on my face and he stilled.

“S’gettin’ kinda late an’ I got this feelin’ he ain’t too happy havin’ me around,” Dean pointed out. I rolled my eyes as I got to my feet, reluctantly trudging after him as he headed for the door.

“How’d you figure it out? He’s so subtle,” I muttered, getting a wry grin out of him. As he pulled the door open, he paused and turned back to me. I stepped up and when he reached out for me I obliged, sliding my arms around his waist and wrapping him in another hug. I didn’t think there was any way I’d ever get tired of getting hugged with those arms.

As we pulled back, Dean turned and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek before he backed into the hall. “Happy Valentine’s day, little Finch.”

Yeah, for once, it had been a happy Valentine’s day. I smiled after him until he turned the corner, the warmth of his lips on my cheek lingering the rest of night.

--

Smackdown • 2/15/13 • Little Rock, AR

Nearly the entire roster was already down in New Orleans, ready for Sunday’s pay-per-view. The only ones that were even here were the few that had matches tonight, and though I wasn’t one of those people, I’d gotten dragged to the show anyways.

Nikki, apparently delirious from her wild night with Mr. Cena, had opted to head out to Louisiana early this morning in his bus.

Without me.

But, wait, didn’t we have a rental car from the company we shared? Not this time! After last weekend’s fiasco we’d been stripped of our rental privileges because some people felt Nikki and I shouldn’t be allowed to travel alone anymore. Which hadn’t seemed like an issue until my ride to Louisiana had left me behind.

Normally, even when I didn’t have a match, I didn’t mind hanging out at the shows. Right before a pay-per-view, though? When I said practically everyone was gone, I meant practically everyone. Even my own tag-team partners were already a state down, so my plans to practice for our match had been squashed. Even Shield had left about an hour before I realized I was stranded at the hotel.

Well, okay, not stranded. Bryan and Brie were with me still, but because Beard Boy had a segment tonight to talk about the Elimination Chamber match he was in, we were stuck at the arena. The man wasn’t even wrestling tonight, for crying out loud!

The cherry on top was that Booker had found me the moment I set foot in the building, just to ban me from the ring. The show was fully booked already, and it’d been made clear that if I wanted to keep my spot in the tag match this weekend, I wouldn’t weasel my way into one tonight. Something about me and being a magnet for trouble, ruining the flow of the show… I dunno. I’d stopped listening when he’d told me no.

With the night being full-up of everyone else getting to do things that I wasn’t allowed to involve myself in, I didn’t have anything to do tonight. Great for saving my energy for Sunday, terrible for the poor souls that crossed my path of bored terrorism.

Pair that with the fact that I’d accidentally been left completely unsupervised, I almost felt bad for my chosen victim of the night. AKA, the robed man strutting down the hallway, looking way too full of himself to go unbothered any longer.

“Just the man I wanted to see!” I greeted, holding my arms out as I approached. Wary of me once again (though not nearly as terrified as he’d once been… I really needed to fix that), Damien paused and clutched his robe a little tighter around him. “I just heard the news, congratulations!”

“Well, Jeanette, I must say your enthusiasm is unexpected, but certainly not unappreciated,” he assured, the suspicion flickering out as he took my bait. The fool. He rolled his shoulders back to draw himself up a little higher, and actually fell into step with me as I turned and walked back down the hall with him. “Your keen interest in my reunion with Cody is understandable. The revival of the best tag team in the WWE will undoubtedly be the highlight of Elimination Chamber.”

“Oh, easily. I mean, forget about the title match between Rock and Punk. Team Rhodes Scholars is all anyone will be talking about on Sunday. You and Cody are just gifts to the WWE,” I agreed, the sarcasm and subtle hint of my intended mischief flying right over his head. Well, he couldn’t say I hadn’t tried to warn him.

“We really are,” he said with a smug smile, tugging at the lapels of his robes proudly. Seeming to have just realized I was still walking with him, he glanced down and asked, “is there something I can help you with?”

Aaaaand, action!

“Oh, no, I was just on my way to congratulate the Codester –” Damien made a noise of surprise and stopped, grabbing my shoulder to make me do the same and turning me towards him. I feigned confusion and asked, “what, isn’t that where you’re going?”

“I – no, I thought he wasn’t here tonight,” Damien admitted. He’s not. “This is excellent news. We can work on our entrance tonight! Take me to him, would you?”

“Oh, gladly,” I grinned, motioning for him to follow after me. As soon as he began to, I picked up the pace to pull ahead of him. He started to jog to keep up, and by the end of the hall we were both practically sprinting.

“Why are we running?!” Damien panted, skittering around the corner a little behind me. I pulled ahead some more, nearly losing him on the next turn.

“You don’t want to keep Cody waiting, do you?” I called back. Knowing I had a few seconds, I bolted for the door marked Roof Access and pulled it open before he got a chance to see the sign. When he finally caught up to me, out of breath, both robe and hair askew, he frowned and eyed the stairs I motioned for him to go up.

A hint of the uncertainty rose up in his eyes again; good. “Where does that lead?”

“Oh, there’s a whole bunch of lockers on the upper level,” I lied. When the suspicion didn’t leave and he didn’t move I added, “Cody said something about how the elevated altitude on the higher floors was better for mustache growth.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed a hint. “He told you this?”

“Of course not. I mean,” I motioned to my mustache-free face. “I’m not a member of the finer facial accessories club. I heard him talking about it with –“ shit. Who had facial hair!? “Uh, Daniel Bryan. And… Sheamus?”

Yeah. They had beards. Well, Sheamus had a beard. Bryan had… we wouldn’t go into it.

Damien ahh’d and nodded in understanding, hand coming up to stroke his own beard. Phew. “Hmm. Well, science certainly does back up elevation and hair growth.”

I was at least 90% sure that wasn’t true, but hey. Let the man dig his own grave, save me the effort. “Right. Yeah. Oh, shoot. I forgot I have a match,” I feigned, pretending to check my phone and heaving a sigh. “Looks like it’ll just be you and Cody, then.”

“Excellent. Just as we prefer,” he told me, strutting for the door. “Your assistance is appreciated, Jeanette. Rhodes Scholars will be sure to acknowledge your comradery.”

Yeah. See how you feel in about two minutes.

“Anytime, Dames. I’m just glad I can help. Oh, before you go, could you give something to Cody for me?”

He raised a brow, and in answer I leaned forward to give him a tight hug. As expected, Damien instantly began struggling at the unexpected advancement. My hand dipped into his robe pocket and snagged his access badge before I let him push me off him.

“Honestly,” he huffed, hastily smoothing himself down; I quickly tucked the badge into my back pocket. “I most certainly will not be passing that along.”

“Fine, you can keep it for yourself if you want. I won’t mind,” I promised, giving him a cheeky grin. Damien made a noise of surprise, and as expected, he fell speechless and just scurried quickly through the door.

Poor, unsuspecting robed man.

I’d been to this arena twice before with Bryan when he’d first joined the roster, and I’d found out quickly (don’t ask me how) that any door leading outside the arena – even the ones going to the roof - required a badge to get back into the building. Y’know, security measures and all that.

I patted the badge in my pocket, grinning to myself. I was off to a good start. Now, to find the box I’d stashed my goodies in…

I was only just digging into my second equipment crate when I heard someone coming up behind me. Mildly worried Damien had found a way back in already, I glanced back and relaxed a little when I saw it was just one of the backstage workers.

And then I realized it was one of the backstage workers, and I quickly righted myself. “Oh, um, hey. I was just, actually, I was – I noticed the lid was off this, and I –“

“You’re the one that pranks the other superstars, right?” she asked, tucking her dark red hair behind her ears before she crossed her arms, leaning a shoulder up against the wall as she studied me. Well, crud. Busted. I gave her a sheepish smile and scratched the back of my head.

“Yep, that’d be me.”

Her unwavering blue eyes held my stare for another moment before she asked, “and I’m assuming you’re who regularly locks Sandow out of the arenas? And, who helped get one over on the Big Show the other night?”

“Another yes,” I sighed. So much for flying under the radar on that one, apparently.

“Good. They’re both jerks to the crew. They deserve to be knocked down a few pegs,” she laughed, giving me a smile and nodding behind me. “Your wrapping paper is in the one against the far wall. I put it near the back so someone didn’t accidentally come across it.”

We-he-hell, color me surprised. Someone who actually appreciated the hard, mischievous work I’d been putting in? Hell yeah!

“That’s awesome, thank you!” I laughed, hopping over the crate I’d been digging in and crossing to her, holding out my hand “I’m Jamie, by the way.”

“Lizzy,” she greeted, shaking my hand before glancing past me again. “You mind if I ask what you’re gonna do with six rolls of wrapping paper?”

A wicked grin curled over my face and I shrugged, backing slowly towards the box and offering, “well, if you’re not too busy, how about I show you? I could definitely use some help.”

Lizzy’s matching grin gave me the answer I was hoping for.

--

With the help of my new partner-in-mischief, we managed to get Damien’s locker – and every one of his items inside – covered in the gawdy taupe-and-sarcoline wrapping paper I’d bulk ordered on Nikki’s Amazon account the other week. It’d taken a bit to find the right combination, but the internet hadn’t disappointed. Technology was a wonderful thing.

As Lizzy tossed our pièce de résistance – all nine of his now-wrapped access cards I’d gathered so far – inside, I shut the door and snapped the lock (also wrapped) back on.

“How’d you get the key to his lock?” she laughed, following me back out of the locker room before anyone caught sight of us. As if I wouldn’t instantly be tied to the crime. Especially after I used our future wedding colors, I snickered to myself.

“Damien holds onto his personal belongings about as well as a colander holds water,” I told her, jingling my special keychain before tucking it safely into my pocket; Lizzy raised a brow.

“What are the other two keys?”

“Cody’s lock, and Damien’s car key. I’m saving that one for a special occasion, though.” As Lizzy snorted and shook her head, I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. We both paused our half-assed escape of the crime scene as I glanced at the message.

From: Bry
Burgers and tots in catering. Better hustle, Mark Henry looks hungry.

Welp, that was my cue. I motioned down one of the side halls and said, “dinner calls. Thanks again for the help. Oh, and don’t forget –“

“Let Sandow back inside in about twenty minutes,” she confirmed, giving a nod as we backed away from each other. “I’ve got you.”

“Pleasure doing mischief with you. I’ll see you around,” I grinned, giving Lizzy a two-fingered salute in goodbye. She waved and headed off the opposite way as I scampered for catering. As I passed gorilla, scowling at 3MB as I went, something large and solid slammed into me. A squeak escaped as I bumped back and fell to the ground. Brodus, the immovable force that had walked right through me, laughed and stepped around me.

“Oops, didn’t see ya there,” he sneered. Alright, I no longer felt bad about dying his mouth blue for a week. Next time the coloring was going in his body wash, and I’d put in enough to make it last a month.

Though his tag partner Tensai and the other Funkadactyl, Cameron, stepped by dismissively Naomi stopped and held out a hand.

“Sorry,” she sighed, pulling me to my feet and giving an apologetic smile. At least I’d made one diva friend that wasn’t the twins…

“You’re good,” I promised, nodding in understanding as she hurried off after her unfortunate tag-team. Rubbing my shoulder resentfully, I went to turn the corner when I caught sight of the people watching me at the end of the hall.

The Shield were here.

Dean was leaning back against the wall, his foot propped on the brick behind him, arms crossed over his chest. With his hair slicked back and the dangerous smirk curled over his face, all rational thoughts briefly scattered out of my mind.

“Hey, darlin’,” he greeted, smirk pulling into a smile. “Been lookin’ for ya.”

Seth, on a crate to his left, looked over with a huff as I came up between Dean and Roman, shaking his head as he studied me. “I don’t even know why we needed to look. Clearly, she finds us the moment she gets here.”

“I’ve got you all chipped,” I told him, tapping the pocket my phone was in. “You spend way more time in TJ Maxx than anyone ever should.”

Dean fought back a grin; I told him I’d put that information to good use. Seth gaped at me – stunned I knew that – and then went to snark a reply but Roman beat him to it. “She ain’t wrong.”

Seth threw both of us a scowl and instantly he turned back to watching the monitor ahead of him. Roman shot me a wink as we swallowed down our snickering.

“What are you doing here?” I asked the boys, admittedly more than a little excited to have them there. “I thought you guys were already in New Orleans.”

Roman chuckled and shook his head, nodding towards the monitor as he slowly cracked his knuckles. “Not just yet, Smalls. We got a little last-minute business to take care of before Sunday.”

“What a coincidence,” I hummed, tapping my chin as I looked between the men around me. All three of them looked down at me, brows raised. “Funny that you’d pick the one night I’m banned from the ring to go out and act all tough.”

Dean let out a bark of laughter and nudged me lightly with his elbow. “What the hell’d you do t’get yourself banned now?”

“Nothing!” I defended; all three Shield members gave me identical deadpan stares.

“Right. Says the kid who was just pickin’ a fight with Brodus Clay,” Roman pointed out; I crossed my arms indignantly.

“That was all him. He’s the one that ran into me. I’ve been on my best behavior tonight,” I insisted. Okay, yes, Damien was on the roof, but that was a totally different thing. “Booker’s just got this idea that I cause trouble or something and didn’t want me messing up the show. Completely ridiculous.”

“Yeah. Wonder where he got that from,” Seth huffed; I narrowed my eyes at him. “For your information, Barbie, we’re not here to take you out. We’re here to send a message.”

I scooted past Dean and hopped up onto the crate right next to Seth, leaning against him. “I’m all ears, Princess Sparkle.”

Seth instantly pushed me off and I would’ve fallen if Dean hadn’t been right there. He easily caught me under the arms, setting me on my feet in front of him before leaning around to shove Seth back.

“Oh come on! She started it!” Dean and Roman rolled their eyes and Seth threw his arms up, again turning back to the monitor to ignore my presence.

“Really, though. Who are you hassling tonight?” I asked them. I tipped my head back against Dean’s chest to look up at him and he settled his hands on my shoulders, giving a squeeze. For a heartbeat I was lost to the small, sweet moment we’d unexpectedly wound up in.

As if he was thinking the same thing, Dean’s smile softened just a hint. “Don’t think it matters, if y’can’t do anythin’ about it.”

“As a matter of fact –“ I began, and then frowned. “Okay, fine. Valid point. But just keep in mind that anything you do to my friends tonight, I’ll do back tenfold –“

Roman spun on his heel so fast I cut my taunting off with a squeak, sinking back into Dean. His hands slid down my arms, holding me back against him, fingers tightening just a hint. Seth rolled off the crate and joined Roman in boxing me in against Dean.

I was so stunned by the dizzying spin in their attitude that I was at a complete and total loss for words.

“You wanna say that again, kid?” Roman growled, lips pulling back in a snarl. Seth gave a low chuckle and punched a fist into his hand, stepping so close his chest brushed the hands I’d brought up in front of me on instinct. I leaned impossibly closer to Dean.

They weren’t seriously gonna jump me, were they? Dean leaned down until he was at my height, face just beside my own, his stubble brushing my jaw and sending electricity buzzing through me. His hands slowly crept back up my arms, fingers drumming over my skin – why was this so enticing?! I was possibly moments from being beat up and all I could think about was how those hands had felt pulling me closer to him, running over my hips, sliding through my hair... it was taking literally all of my self-restraint to keep from shivering at his touch.

“Now c’mon, little Finch. Do we look like the kinda guys that’d jump a little superstar out here unprotected, all by herself?”

File that under things that shouldn’t turn me on, I noted to myself as the Shield all laughed quietly. Seth leaned forward and gave my cheek a taunting pat.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’re safe until Sunday. We want you in one piece until Elimination Chamber so that we can rip you apart in front of your friends, send the right message, you know?”

Seth and Roman pulled back, and suddenly Dean was slipping out from behind me. He turned, gave me a dark smirk, and then jerked his head at the boys as he stalked down the hall. Only now did I notice the camera that had snuck up on us.

They’d put on a show to cover up our backstage friendship. It probably wouldn’t have looked very good, the four of us laughing and joking around before our big match on Sunday… I had to give them credit. That was pretty damn clever.

I stared after them, keeping a nervous frown on my face until the camera man scuttled away. Even now I kept my eyes on Dean; he looked as good walking away as he did stalking me in the ring. Worse sights to see, that’s for sure, I pointed out, running a hand through my hair to try and recover from the arousing-yet-alarming confrontation.

Like he could feel me still staring after him (what, those pants fit him really well, okay?) He turned, continuing to walk backwards as he met my eyes. I gave him a smile and he quirked one back, throwing me a parting wink before the Shield disappeared around the corner.

--

“If you touch another tot on this plate, I swear to god I will suplex you through the table,” I only half-joked, smacking Bryan’s hand yet again. He gave me a wounded look and I jammed a finger at the buffet table behind him. “There’s a bunch left! Go get your own!”

“Just one normal meal, it’s all I ask,” Brie sighed, looking between us wearily as we continued to ignored her

“Yours taste better!” Bryan threw out; I scoffed.

“That’s so stupid. Just go get them!”

“You’re so stupid!”

“Oh, real mature. Would you leave me alone? I’m trying to watch the match!” I snapped, and Bryan actually laughed.

“Like you care about who wins between 3MB and the Funkadactyls.”

His hand had started creeping over the table and I stared it down as I corrected, “I just want to watch Brodus get his ass handed to him, no matter the handee.”

“That’s not a word. It’d be hander,” he snarked.

“That’s not a word either!”

“Um, according to Scrabble it is,” he argued. I paused my hand-watching to frown at him and he shrugged, “don’t question my knowledge. I know things. Now would you just give me your tots? You’re not even eating them!”

“I would be if I didn’t have to keep you from stealing them!” I pointed out, shooing him away as he dove in for my burger this time. “Brianna, control your goat!”

“Brianna, tell Jamie to share with her elders!”

Again he moved to take them and this time I snagged his wrist, slamming his arm into the table. “Do not touch my food!”

Brie, face in her hand now, rubbed her temple wearily as she sighed, “guys, enough. Can we please just –“

Bryan ripped his arm free and shoved my own aside, his other hand shooting out underneath them. He snagged a tot and I smacked it out of his fingers, sending it skittering across the floor and under the buffet table. He gave me an affronted look as he shook himself out of my hold.

“You’re a jerk!”

“What?!” I cried incredulously. “It’s not my fault you can’t walk ten feet to get your own food!”

Bryan waved a hand at the table and argued, “if it’s so close, let me have these and just get up and get yourself some more!”

“Bryan, Jamie, enough,” Brie practically begged; we didn’t even spare a glance at her.

“No! They’re my tots, and I want to eat these! If you want your own, go get your damn own –”

SIERRA. HOTEL. INDIA. ECHO. LIMA. DELTA. SHIELD.

We froze in our bickering – Brie muttering a relieved oh thank god – and all three of us turned to stare up at the TV in the corner of the breakroom. I hadn’t even noticed the Funkadactyls had won – damnit – but now Brodus and Tensai were shooing Naomi and Cameron out of the ring.

The boys were practically running down the steps through the crowd. By the time the girls had rushed out of the ropes, Seth was just somersaulting over the barricade, Dean hot on his heels. The camera pulled back just as Roman slid into the ring, tackling Brodus the moment he leapt up.

A small smile crept onto my face; did this have anything to do with Brodus being an asshole to me earlier? I’d sure like to think so. For once I could actually sit back and enjoy the assault in the ring.

“What, you two aren’t going out there to help?” Brie asked us; Bryan just snorted. I shrugged and popped a tot in my mouth.

“Can’t. I’m banned from the ring tonight. Besides, they kind of had it coming. That dancing was awful.”

“Just terrible,” Bryan agreed.

“That’s no reason –“ Brie paused and backtracked immediately. “What? Why are you banned? What did you do?!”

“Why does everyone always assume I did something?” I scoffed. Wonder if Dames is still on the roof… has it been twenty minutes? I should probably go check –

The sound of Brodus hitting the mat in an unforgiving triple powerbomb snapped my attention back to the screen. Roman let out a roar as Seth threw a hand up in victory. Dean skirted past them, beckoning for a mic with one hand as his other slicked his hair back.

That’s one way to get my full, undivided attention, I thought appreciatively, watching Dean’s arms flex as he rolled his shoulders back, breathing hard, smirking down at Brodus. The dude still hadn’t moved, and honestly I was with the Shield on this one.

Dean’s tongue ran against his lower lip – unfairly enticing – as he ducked his head, burning blue eyes snapping up to stare directly into the camera.

“Don’t you dare think for one moment that this Sunday is gonna look any different! Team Justice,” he sneered, lip curling up, eyes glinting as he paced back the other way. I’m pretty sure my mind short-circuited for a few seconds. “You will learn the hard way that your actions have consequences. Sheamus, Ryback… Little Finch, we meant what we said earlier. We will destroy you. This Sunday, you will be put on trial and sentenced for your transgressions. You will be broken, you will be humbled, and you will believe in the Shield!”

Lord have mercy on me, that man just did things to me. Even after he threw the mic down, after he rolled out of the ring, I was still captivated by him. The authority in the rigid, smooth line of his back, the power in those broad shoulders, the danger burning in his crystal stare… I was totally, completely lost to Dean Ambrose.

I only managed to look away when the show cut to another promotion for Fandango. He hadn’t even made his debut and I was already sick of hearing about him. Brie caught my eye as I turned back around, a small, knowing smile on her face.

Cheeks heating up, I cleared my throat and began, “they’re just lucky I can’t retaliate, or they’d be sorry –“

My eyes fell to my plate and a gasp ripped out of me. My food was gone! My head snapped up to Bryan and he froze, staring back at me with wide eyes, cheeks bulging from all the tots he’s shoved in his mouth. The jerk hadn’t even chewed them, he’d just staked his claim!

He had a single tot left in his hand and I held my own out. “Give it back.”

Bryan mumbled something that I assumed to be a vehement no as he lifted the tot up, pausing with it just an inch from his lips; my eyes narrowed.

“Bryan. Don’t you dare.”

We both held perfectly still, staring each other down, and then he shoved the last tot in his mouth. I dove out of my seat and speared him to the floor before he could scramble out of the way. Tots burst out of his mouth like a mushy, potato-y fountain, scattering all around the break room.

The two of us grappled across the floor, rolling back and forth, leaving smooshed tots in our wake. Brie watched us with a look of apathetic resignation. Not even trying to separate us, she grabbed her own plate and stepped around our makeshift wrestling match.

“I’m grabbing my bags and heading to the car. If the two of you aren’t in that parking garage – potato-free – I’m leaving without you,” she warned before she slipped out of the room. The two of us instantly froze, shared a quick look, and then shoved off one another.

Brie really would abandon us at the arena; she’d done it before. We scampered after our Bella, hastily brushing tot residue off each other as we went. As we passed by an open room, Booker’s voice called out after us,

“Ay, Lawless!”

Uh oh. Brie and Bryan both turned to give me a look, and I held my hands up. “I didn’t do anything!”

“You don’t just get banned from the ring for doing nothing,” Bryan unhelpfully pointed out as I backed for the open door; I gave him an unamused frown.

“Don’t leave without me!”

“No promises,” he called back to me. Brie rolled her eyes and pulled her boyfriend after her.

“Ten minutes, or we will,” she threatened. I gave her a two-fingered salute before turning and slipping into Booker’s makeshift office. He didn’t look amused, and instantly I scanned the room for Damien. Seemingly in the clear – for now – I pointedly kept quiet so I didn’t out myself.

“You wanna tell me why you were antagonizin’ the Shield earlier?”

My hands, again, went up defensively. “Hey, that was all them. They sought me out.”

“I said no trouble tonight,” he began, and now I held up a finger.

“Technically you only specified no trouble in the ring –“

“Lawless don’t test me right now,” he warned, dropping his face into his hand and rubbing at his forehead. Why did people always do that around me? “You’re already on my last nerve tonight. First you’re runnin’ around pickin’ fights with the Shield, I hear Sandow’s sayin’ you locked him up on the roof –“ Uh oh… “I got a pay-per-view to prepare for on Sunday and I got a new tag-team debuting on Monday. I got too much on my plate, I don’t have time for your meddlin’ tonight.”

“I hear you,” I soothed, not wanting to poke the bear and get myself out of another pay-per-view. “I’m sure you’ll be happy to know I’m just on my way out. The rest of your show is safe from my troublesome influence.”

He scrubbed a hand down his face and gave me a heavy look. “Just get outta here, and don’t stir anythin’ up on the way out.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” I promised, snapping my feet together and saluting him; he looked about ready to side-slam me through the desk. I spun on my heel and bolted before he actually decided to do so.

As I turned to take off down the hall, I nearly ran right into the back of Damien Sandow. He had a handful of my wrapping paper in one hand, and all of his ID badges in the other.

“ – cannot believe the nerve of that blonde little heathen!” he ranted to the poor crew member he’d come across. “If you hadn’t come along I would’ve been stuck up there for hours, or days… weeks, even. When I’m the WWE Champion, I’ll be sure to thank you in my speech, Leslie.”

“It’s Lizzy,” a familiar voice corrected. I slowly leaned around Damien’s arm to grin at her. “Don’t mention it, Mr. Sandow.” Her eyes flicked to me for just a heartbeat as she assured, “I’m always happy to help.”

“When you find her, be sure to bring her straight to Booker’s office. I’ll be filing a full report for abduction with malicious intent, so the sooner you can apprehend that felon, the better.”

“You got it. The moment I see her, I’ll drag her here myself,” Lizzy told him, waving me past them as she reached up and took Damien’s arm, steering him back around the other way. We gave each other a quick thumbs up before she shoved Damien into Booker’s office and I took off to catch my ride before anything else could come up. The chance to take on Dean in a pay-per-view with my friends on both sides of the ring? No way I was getting myself in any more trouble tonight.

Royal Rumble might’ve been a bust, but I’d make sure Elimination Chamber was a night to remember.