AUTHOR'S NOTE: Warning: This chapter contains some potentially triggering content. (Including a mildly graphic rape.) I don't usually start fics like this, so I wanted to put a warning just in case.

CHAPTER ONE

LILY

It was supposed to be the best night of my life. Instead, it was the worst.

For my twenty-first birthday, I decided to party with the main roster. I was well-liked at NXT and Triple H was looking to bring me up anyway. He flew me to the town they were in and let me hang out backstage. It was great at first. I met all the people I'd idolized. Nattie showed me some of her moves and Paige gave me fashion advice because I was into the same style as her. Afterward, I went to a bar with about half of the roster. That's where I met him.

Roman Reigns was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. His hair made me want to play with it and his eyes stared into my soul. I was enchanted the second he said, "Have we met, Baby Girl?"

I smiled at him awkwardly. "No," I managed to reply. "I'm Lily. I wrestle at NXT under Ashlynn." I was trying not to freak out, but I'd always been a Shield fan, so the fact that he was talking to me was kind of overwhelming.

"Nice to meet you, Lily. You probably know me as Roman Reigns, but you can call me Joe."

"Okay, Joe," I said. We talked about a lot of things after that. He asked about my training. I was what Triple H liked to call a natural. I'd been training at a wrestling school by the time I was fifteen with my mom's permission. She knew all I ever wanted was to be a wrestler, and she supported me. At eighteen, I'd secured an audition with WWE after Ashley, the daughter of Ric Flair known as Charlotte, had seen me wrestle at an indy show. Triple H had immediately put me on the NXT roster.

Joe kept buying me drinks. He insisted that since it was my twenty-first birthday, I had to make the most out of celebrating. He matched every one of my drinks with one of his own. We were beyond plastered. At one-thirty or so in the morning, he offered to walk me back to my hotel. He helped me to my room and closed the door behind us.

"You're really beautiful, Lily," he told me.

I blushed. "Thank you," I said.

He stunned me by pulling me into his arms and kissing me. I liked the kiss. It was hard and desperate, like he needed his lips to be on mine. I liked how that felt. Then he pulled me closer against him, and I felt the possessiveness of his arms, like I belonged to him. He was just so intense... It wasn't until he went for his zipper that I pulled away.

"Joe, wait," I said. "Slow down."

"Oh, come on, Lily. We were just starting to have fun." He pressed his body against mine and I could feel how hard he was. I was attracted to him, but this was happening way too fast.

"I don't even know you," I protested.

"So get to know me." He pushed my legs apart with his hands and rubbed up against me. He'd pulled my skirt up so only my underwear was between us as he unzipped himself. I tried to pull away, but he didn't let me this time. He pushed me toward the bed.

"No!" I told him. "Get- get off of me, you asshole!"

He laughed. "Hard-to-get, huh?" He used his hand to tear my underwear off of me before shoving himself inside. I wanted to fight, but I was so drunk... Was this even really happening?

The worst part of all of this was that even though my mind was screaming and I was begging him to stop, my body reacted to what he was doing to me. I hated that it felt good as he kept going. He was huge inside of me and it hurt, even though I was certainly no virgin. I could feel him tearing me open as he got rougher. I was crying, and he just laughed and whispered sweet things to me like we were lovers.

Afterward, as I lay drenched in sweat and sobbing, he kissed my neck and whispered, "That was great, Baby Girl. We should definitely do it again." Then he got up, got properly dressed again, and left my room.

I didn't know what to do. I'd been drinking with him. I'd flirted with him. I'd brought him back to my room and kissed him. I'd even liked how he made me feel... But I said no. I hadn't wanted things to go this far. No meant no, right? That meant I had just been raped... Didn't it?

No one will believe you, I thought. You were all over him at the bar. They'll think you consented.

I was trembling. He'd been so rough with me... I hurt everywhere. I stood and walked to the door. My hair was probably a mess, and my clothes were wrinkled, and my underwear was missing, but I needed to walk...

I made it halfway down the hall before I bumped into someone. I jumped out of my skin. "Sorry," he said. "Whoa... Shit, um... Are you okay?"

I looked up and realized I'd bumped right into Dean Ambrose. Great, I thought. I guess it's his turn to rape me. Too bad Rollins is injured, or the whole set could turn me into their toy. That's clearly all I am to them... What a fucking night... I started laughing at the ridiculous though. I sounded insane, but I couldn't stop.

"Wow... Okay, come on," Dean said. He pulled me into a hotel room. My heart broke as I was positive he was going to take his turn with me.

Instead, Dean wrapped me in a thick, fuzzy blue blanket and said, "Whoever hurt you won't find you here, okay? So just take whatever time you need to get calm, and know you're gonna be alright, and you can talk when you're ready."

I stared at him. "Why?" I asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because you seem to need it. What's your name?"

I hesitated. I wasn't sure I could trust him, but what other choice did I have? "Lily," I finally said.

"I'm Dean." He didn't offer a real name. I knew from Wikipedia that his name was Jon, but I'd never heard anyone call him that. He studied me before asking, "Are you thirsty? Or hungry? I could order room service. It's twenty-four hours..."

"No... Nauseous."

"Too much to drink?"

I nodded. "Here," he said, tossing me a water bottle. "Water helps."

I saw it was unopened, so I decided to trust it and unscrewed the cap. I choked down some water. "Thanks," I finally said.

"Sure. So, Lily... Any chance of you telling me what happened?"

"Who said something did?"

He paused. "Look, no offense, but you look... You look like you were attacked." He pointed at my legs. "And you're dripping blood on my sheets."

I was horrified. "Oh God... I'm sorry," I said.

"Don't you dare apologize... But someone hurt you, Lily. Tell me who it was so I can kick the son of a bitch's ass."

I stared at him. He genuinely seemed to want to help me, but I couldn't tell him. Joe or Roman or whatever I was supposed to call him was his best friend, in character and out. He wouldn't believe me. Reigns was the first member of the Shield to face turn, a Samoan, one of the good guys... No one would ever believe me, especially not the guy who called him his brother.

"You're sweet, but I'm just really drunk..."

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

"Lie to me. You can tell me you don't wanna talk or whatever, but don't fucking lie, okay? I'm not an idiot."

I didn't deny it. Instead, I said, "It's my twenty-first birthday, or it was until midnight anyway..."

He smiled at me sarcastically. "Happy birthday... Sorry it seems to have sucked."

"My birthday was fine. The bad part started after midnight."

He tossed me a t-shirt. "Here," he said. "You look like you could use a new shirt."

I realized it was one of his shirts. "I can't take this-"

"Consider it a belated birthday gift. I've got others. You wanna shower?" He quickly added, "I swear I'm not offering to take one with you or anything. You just... I figure you want to clean up." He had clearly decided not to push me to call the cops or anything, and I was grateful.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, that would be great."

He nodded. "Bathroom's that way."

"Um... Dean, I..." I stared at the floor. I had no underwear, but I didn't want to say that, so I just said, "Could I borrow some pants?"

He tossed me a pair of boxers and a pair of sweats from his suitcase. "Keep 'em," he said.

I picked them up and stumbled toward the bathroom. Dean caught my arm and steadied me. Suddenly, I felt sick. I ran to the toilet and started puking. To my shock, Dean knelt beside me. He pulled my hair away from my face and stayed by my side as I vomited up what felt like every meal I'd eaten since I was fifteen.

"Do you want a doctor?" He finally asked me.

"No," I said. My throat hurt and my voice was hoarse. "I feel better now."

He nodded and helped me stand up. My knees were shaking. "Are you sure you can handle a shower?" He asked.

"Yeah... I just... I need a minute."

He stayed with me and passed me some toothpaste. "I don't have an extra toothbrush... I know it's not really hygenic, but you can use mine if you want to."

"I'll just use my finger. That's good enough for this second." I looked at him. "I'm good to shower now."

Dean stepped out of the bathroom, leaving me to my own devices. I ran the water, hoping a shower would help me. I stepped inside, letting the hot water hit my body. I relaxed in the steam, hoping the water would soothe my sore muscles. I tried not to think about what had happened. I was still drunk, although I was starting to move on to hung-over. I was in no shape to try to figure out if I had really just been raped or if both of us being drunk off our asses meant I had just made some poor choices and was regretting them. Whatever happened, I was pretty sure I was safe now. Dean seemed determined to take care of me. I didn't understand his unexpected kindness, but I appreciated it.

After spending more time in the shower than I should have, I realized my skin was red. A few spots had been scrubbed nearly raw. I dried myself off and changed into Dean's clothes. They were big on me and that made them extremely comfortable. I was feeling safe, warm, clean, and sober when I walked out of the bathroom.

"You good?" Dean asked me.

I nodded. "Thank you," I said.

"No problem... Do you want me to walk you to your room or...?"

I suddenly panicked. That room was the last place I wanted to go. "I... Can I...?"

"You can stay if you want. Take the bed. I don't sleep much anyway."

"Dean, no... I can't-"

"Look, it's fine. I don't mind. You're exhausted." He paused. "And scared. You'll be safe here, Lily. I promise."

I didn't deny it. Instead, I nodded. "Okay," I said. "Thank you."

He pulled the blanket up so I could crawl into the bed. Then he covered me. It was so sweet... Dean was not what I'd expected. As I tried to relax, I heard him sit down in the chair in the room and knew he was watching over me. That should have been creepy, but instead, it was comforting. I just hoped I'd be able to sleep.

CODY

My phone went off at five-thirty in the morning. I groaned and rolled over to shut it off before settling back into a comfortable position and wrapping my arms around my wife.

Brandi let out a slight moan before saying, "That was the alarm, honey."

"You sure?" I asked. "I think it was more of a suggestion."

Brandi laughed. "You're meeting Dustin at six in the gym," she reminded me.

"He can work out without me."

"Baby-"

"I know, I know... Alright, fine. The evil alarm wins again." I reluctantly released my wife before rolling out of bed. I dragged myself to the shower to get clean and presentable before I worked myself into a sweaty mess... Maybe that defeated the purpose of the first shower, but it's what people were supposed to do.

When I was ready to leave, Brandi pulled me into her arms for a kiss. I almost refused to walk away. "I'm the luckiest man alive," I informed her.

She smiled at me. "Give your brother my love," she said.

"Will do." I grabbed my gym bag and headed to the hotel gym.

My older half-brother Dustin was already working out. "Cody!" He called me over to him.

I joined him. "Morning, Dustin," I greeted him.

"You look exhausted, Kid."

"I'm half-asleep. Caffeine will fix me right up."

"Late night?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Brandi keep you up?" He teased.

"I wish that was the reason... I don't know what it was, Dus. I just had this nagging sense that something was wrong. I couldn't shake it. I finally just blacked out."

"Is it gone now?"

I considered his question. "Not totally, but it's better... I'm calmer."

"Well, get on a machine and work the rest of your stress off."

That sounded like a good idea, so I did exactly that. After about an hour, I felt significantly better. I looked at Dustin and asked, "Have I earned caffeine yet?"

He laughed. "I guess so. Let's go get breakfast. You wanna invite the wife?" He asked.

"Brandi's got plans with the girls this morning. I'll catch her for lunch."

"Alright then. Come on, my treat."

"Really?" I grinned. "Big brother, why do you spoil me?"

"You had a bad night. Don't get used to it, but I feel like being nice today."

I didn't have to be told twice. I followed him to the showers, where I once again made myself presentable, and then he led the way to a diner. It wasn't a bad way to start a day, but a little voice in the back of my mind was still nagging me. I couldn't shake the feeling that something big was coming...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story. I appreciate any and all reviews!