This is my first story. And since this was my first after years of not writing anything, I have to warn you, it's riddled with so many mistakes. I keep it here to remind me to do better, but maybe one day I'll edit it. After I've finished the other stories, that is.

Please enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of these wrestlers and am in no way affiliated with them. I only own Danielle Davenport and Toni, Shawn's wife. This is pure fiction and is not to be taken as true in any way.

As soon as she'd stopped her car in front of the house, her door was yanked open and she was pulled into a warm, hard wall. She let out a satisfied sigh and closed her eyes, her whole body releasing all the little anxieties and insecurities it carried. It was an embrace she longed for every second of her self-imposed exile. She was passed on to another wall, softer but just as intense. Shawn and Antonia. The only constants in her life.

They didn't say a word, like they understood she needed the solace of a human touch. She knew the questions would come, but for now she was happy to let her family lead her into their home, one on each side. It had been a long, tough two years, but she had made it. She was here. She was safe. She was stronger than she'd been before.

"Are you tired?" Toni asked softly, the concern showing in her eyes. It was one in the morning and she'd been driving all day, and they'd obviously been asleep because Toni wore a little blue nightie, Shawn just pj bottoms, but she wasn't tired. She just wanted to look at them.

"I can last another hour or so," she chuckled. "Will you guys sit with me"

Shawn looked relieved at her answer. She knew he'd never have been able to sleep anyway if she didn't answer a few questions. That was Shawn for you, her self proclaimed protector. Only he hadn't been able to protect her from the worst pain in her life. She didn't blame him, but she knew he blamed himself.

Taking her hand, he led her into the cosy den where he sat next to her on the big couch. He still hadn't said a word. Antonia poured them all a drink and sat on the other side of her.

They drank in silence, each chasing their little demons. So much had happened to bring this moment on, but for Dani, this moment, just sitting with her only family, her true friends, closed the doors on all of it. She was alright. Ready to start again.

"I'm alright Shawn. Really," she said softly. "I'm back"

"I should have seen it coming," he started, his first words since she'd come.

"You couldn't have guessed," Dani cut in. "Neither of you could have. I should have told you sooner but I blamed myself for what was happening to me. I know now that it was stupid to think like that, but I really needed to get away for me to start thinking clearly again. I'm sorry for making you worry, not knowing where I was and all, but I needed to get over it by myself. I needed to get stronger by myself. And I did. All I need now is just you guys. I missed being fussed over"

Toni smiled and stroked Danielle's hair. It was a wild mass of jet black, and Dani had never liked it. She said it was too big and messy. She didn't understand that it only accentuated her exotic looks, what with her silvery blue eyes and tanned complexion. She was the most beautiful woman Toni had ever seen, but telling Dani that only got her back up. She didn't see what everyone else saw, and the five long years before she disappeared wouldn't have helped matters at all.

"I'm so glad you're back Dani. We missed you," Toni said.

"I thought about you every single day," Dani smiled. "But I couldn't come back until I was ready"

The last bit was directed at Shawn. She knew he had a million more questions. Where had she been? What had she done? Had anyone else hurt her while he wasn't watching? But he'd get into all that eventually, she knew.

"I think I'll turn in now, been driving all day and all night," Dani said finally. "We can talk tomorrow, Shawn. Go for a walk or something. I promise"

Toni smiled at her husband, knowing he would have taken Dani away anyway, whether she'd wanted to talk or not. He'd been hit harder than all of them, maybe because he'd practically raised Dani. Her parents had been Shawns' parents' best friends, and when they'd passed on in an unfortunate accident when she had been only three, Shawn's parents became her legal guardians. But she'd spent all her childhood following and hero worshiping Shawn. He'd been 21 when Dani had come to live with them, and loved every minute of it. It had been Shawn she'd turned to for everything, confided in. She loved the whole family, but she and Shawn were more alike than the rest of them.

" If you don't mind, could I stay here a few weeks, till I've had my place redecorated?"

She wanted a fresh beginning, no reminders of the past. As she had not set foot in her home since that terrible night, she knew seeing it exactly as she left it would only bring back the pain she had spent so long trying to hide.

"You know you don't have to ask, sweets. I made your bed up when you called this morning," Toni said, getting up with her to walk upstairs.

Both women gave Shawn a little kiss on the cheek and left him with his drink. They both knew he had a lot of thinking to do.

She had a good morning out with Shawn, getting up at an ungodly hour to train in his gym even though she'd only just lay down, then going out with the dogs to the park to get some air and talk. She told him some of her secrets, things she knew he would never repeat to another soul. Talking about it made her feel better, but she knew Shawn was relieving her pain all over again. She still had her pain, but it was locked up where it would not destroy her like it very nearly did before.

"You can't be with me 24/7, Shawn. It was not your fault," Dani said softly. "I hate that you blame yourself, when we both know it was my fault. I shouldn't have been with Jamie to start off with. You told me from the very beginning he'd only hurt me."

"Don't say that, Dani. None of it was your fault. You were young and in love. I'm older and should have known better. I should have beat that little punk down the minute he came sniffing down our door."

"Shawn, I'm here now, that's all that matters. I've had plenty of time to think and I promise you, I'm never going to let a man treat me like that ever again. You're my friend and I love you, but you've got Toni as well now. You can't be there for everyone. I love you for thinking you should be, but I'm grown. Let me make my own mistakes and deal with them. Neither of us could have guessed how bad things would go."

"But when you started staying away... When you gave me excuse after excuse why you couldn't come see us, I should have known then. I could have stopped it, Dani."

"Believe me, I did a very good job of not giving anything away. Even if you'd come, there's nothing you could have done. I would have protected Jamie with my life. So, please, for me, lets just move on from this. I don't want the rest of my life determined by those few years. Let it go Shawn. Help me start living again."

So, cuddled up on a park bench, their tears flowing freely as they waited for the sunrise, she told him where she'd been, how she had dealt with her grief, her anger and her pain. She knew that, for Shawn, the anger and pain were still an open wound. Showing him she was really alright would be the only way he would also start to heal.

The sunrise brought with it new hope, new plans. By the time the early morning joggers and dog walkers came out, Shawn had basically ordered her to not leave his side for an instant. She was to go everywhere with him so he could, as he said, watch over her. She agreed to this only because she knew it would give him peace of mind. Eventually she would make him see there was nothing he could have done to protect her. Eventually, he would put it behind him.

"What if I want to go out clubbin' or somethin'?" she joked.

"I come with you," he stated easily.

"What if I find a man"

"No men"

"I'm 25, Shawn. Yes, men"

"You aren't ready"

"It's been nearly two years, I'm more than ready," Dani muttered to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing. So when do we fly out then," Dani asked. "H going down tonight as well?"

Tomorrow night was a WWE Pay Per View, and the Heartbreak Kid was set to fight Jericho. Dani had not been at any live event since she had started seeing Jamie, she'd been 18 then, because he'd always been insecure about her being around other men. In fact, she'd stopped going out in public altogether. His reasoning had been she was a whore and would sleep with any man who smiled at her.

" After lunch," Shawn replied, helping her up from the bench so they could start walking back. "Paul won't be there till tomorrow morning. He didn't want to go out with the guys tonight"

"We are going out"

"Some club in town. Nothing heavy coz everyone is getting ready for tomorrow"

And just like that she thought of the perfect way bury her past. In steamy, muscular flesh!