Dean stopped dead in his tracks and swallowed hard as he entered the arena. He hadn't thought the ring or the area around it would be empty but never in a million years had he thought he would see her inside it. Chocolate brown hair in tight curls that reached to her shoulders. He knew how long it really was if she straightened it out. He also knew that with that hair came the most enticing pair of crystal green eyes.

"Uce?" Roman asked.
"Dean, are you okay?" Seth asked.
"Yeah," Dean scratched the back of his head. "Not really, no."
"What's wrong?" Roman asked.
"I can't go down there," Dean answered.
"Why not? It's just Nia training with some rookie," Seth said.
"She's... Ehm... She's... I know her," Dean said.
"Who is she?" Roman asked.

As if she felt his eyes burning into her from afar, she stopped in the middle of the ring and turned her head towards the ramp. Even though he couldn't see the green shade of her eyes from the distance, he remembered it perfectly, and it took his breath away when she looked at him.

"Spencer," he whispered.

As if it wasn't a big deal seeing him again, she turned back around to continue training with Nia. Of course it wasn't a big deal to her. She knew he worked for WWE but she hadn't given him a heads up that she had been signed there. He shook his head in an excuse without any words, turned around and walked away.

"She clearly means something," Seth said.
"Oh, you think?" Roman said sarcastically. "We better make him tell us right away or it'll eat him up in no time."

They caught up with him in no time and followed him outside without a word. Once outside and away from everyone, he sighed deeply and looked at his two friends. They didn't need to ask. He knew what they wanted to hear.

"A long time ago Spencer and I were a thing," he started.
"Seeing you react like that makes us know it was more than just a thing," Roman said.
"I loved her so much, you won't even believe it. She was the first and only one to ever break my heart," Dean said.
"What happened?" Seth asked.
"It was all my fault. I broke her heart first and she just did what she felt she had to do but it fucking hurt and it keeps hurting everytime we cross paths because we don't know how to be around each other so we keep doing the same fucking thing and it hurts! It fucking hurts!" Dean was almost shouting.

He leaned his back against the brick wall and wiped his eyes with his hands. At least none of them called him out on the tears that had been there.

"It was four years ago," he said.
"That's a long time ago," Seth said.
"It doesn't matter because we keep running into each other," Dean said.
"What happened between you?" Roman asked.
"I fucked up, Roman. I fucked up so bad," Dean's lip quivered. "We were together for eight months and I knew from the beginning that she was fucking it for me but I was young and wild and the idiots I was running with back then kept telling me how I was too young to settle down and that I should live a little."
"Oh, Dean," Roman sighed.
"I'm not proud of it but they got into my head and I started cheating on her. I made excuses to myself that I was being drunk and young and as long as she didn't know, no one got hurt, right?" Dean chuckled sadly. "Wrong! We both got hurt and I lost the one person I ever wanted to be with."
"So she caught you in the act, or what?" Seth asked.
"Oh yeah, I made the mistake of forgetting to kick a girl out afterwards and Spencer showed up next morning with breakfast. I'll never forget the look on her face when I woke up and saw her standing in the bedroom," Dean answered.

Roman reached a hand forward and patted Dean's shoulder. He didn't know what to say to make Dean feel better. Dean had fucked up and he knew it.

"That's not even the worst part," Dean shook his head. "She looked shocked but she didn't yell or anything. She just looked at the girl next to me and told her that breakfast was in the kitchen and that she hoped she liked orange juice."
"What?" Seth chuckled.
"And then she walked away," Dean said. "Of course I ran after her, expecting her to hit me and scream but nothing came. She just said she was happy to know exactly where she stood and that she would come by later that day."
"And did she?" Seth asked.
"She did, yes, but everything had changed. I wanted to talk about it and apologize but she didn't let me get one word in. She tore my clothes off, jumped me and fucked me like a drunken one night stand," Dean answered.

Roman sighed. He had a feeling where the conversation was heading.

"She treated me like I treated all those girls. Once she was done fucking me, she put her clothes back on, told me it had been fun and that she would see me around. And then she left. She left me heartbroken and not able to fix it," Dean said.

Once again the tears were in his eyes and he didn't care about crying in front of his two friends. Normally he was good at keeping his emotions within but not when it came to her.

"And everytime we cross paths, we do this stupid game. We deliberately try to make the other one jealous. We hook up with others in front of each other for several parties until one of us, mostly me to be fair, break down and attack the other one and we'll have incredible sex and everytime I wanna tell her how much I still love her but I never get around to it. And then we split apart again because one of us is going to wrestle somewhere else and I try to heal my broken heart and forget her and then she shows up again. She always shows up again," Dean said.

He felt a hand on his other shoulder and he knew Seth was next to him like Roman was on the other side. He hadn't realized he had closed his eyes before feeling the hand land on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked straight ahead to avoid eye contact with both of them.

"For four years I've taken every mental punch and kick you can imagine for the biggest fuck up in my life and I deserve it. I deserve all of it because I hurt the one person I cherished more than anything," he said.
"So you never talked about it at all?" Roman asked.
"Not once. It's like she buried it and I can't find out where so I can't dig it back up. I don't know how to start and it has only gotten harder over the years. I've accepted this weird dance between us no matter how much it hurts because it gives me her again and again," Dean said. "Just not to keep for good."
"Well, she must still feel something for you when she continues dancing with you like that. You can't make me believe someone would spend four years on revenge. It has to hurt her too to see you again and again," Roman said.
"You think?" Dean asked.

He turned his head and looked at Roman and there was the hint of hope in his eyes.

"I don't know," Roman answered. "I don't know her. I just don't think anybody would do something like that for that long without some sort of feelings."
"Is revenge a feeling?" Dean asked.
"Not really," Roman chuckled.

They turned their heads at the sound of the door to the arena opening. Of course Spencer of all people stepped out. She looked at Dean and then gave Seth and Roman a quick once-over.

"Hi Spencer," Dean said softly.
"Hi Dean," she said.

There was no cruel or hateful tone in her voice. Just a flat tone as if she had met someone she once went to school with and couldn't remember much of. As if he had never been deep inside her heart like he knew he had been.

"So you got signed here?" He asked.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.
"I don't have your number," she answered.
"You deleted it?" He asked.
"What does it matter anyway? I didn't think you would care," she said.
"I always care," he said.

She looked around and pretended not to hear him. The situation was getting awkward with his two friends standing right there listening in on every word.

"You need a ride somewhere?" He asked.
"No, Xavier offered already," she looked through the glass door. "Ah, here he comes."

The door opened and Xavier stepped out.

"Hi guys," he smiled at Dean, Seth and Roman before turning to her. "Ready to go?"
"Yes," she smiled widely.
"See you around, guys," he waved at the three men.

Dean watched her walk with Xavier and get into his car. She didn't even look at him as they drove away.

"And so it begins," he sighed.
"What?" Seth asked.
"The game," Dean answered. "The stupid game. She's gonna focus on Xavier and I'm gonna find someone to try and make her jealous and we're gonna act like fucking teenagers out to screw with each other's minds."
"So don't play," Roman said. "Be an adult about it and talk to her."
"Four years too late," Dean said.
"It's never too late," Roman said.
"Roman's right," Seth said. "You just gotta make her listen to you. Don't give her the choice. Lock her inside a room with you and make her listen."
"I'm afraid I'll lose her for good then. At least this way I get to be with her," Dean said.
"But at what cost?" Roman asked.