Roman smiled to himself as he walked into the hotel bar and saw her sitting alone at a table by the window with an empty glass in front of her. She was staring out the window, far away in her own thoughts by the looks of it. She often wandered off like that in her mind. He had caught her like that more times than he could remember. He never knew where her mind went and he never asked her. That was about to change. He walked to the counter and ordered a beer for himself and a Piña Colada for her because he knew it was her favourite drink.

"Carmen," he said softly as he stopped by the table.

She looked up, surprised and confused to see him there. He gave her a calming smile and sat down on the chair next to her. Most people would sit across from another person but he felt the need to be close to her.

"What are you doing here, Roman?" She asked.
"Can't a friend buy another friend a drink?" He asked with a smile and handed her the drink.
"Thank you," she said.

She lifted the glass and put the straw between her lips, almost sucking up half the drink in one go. She put the glass back down and gave him a little smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Where were you just before? You looked like you were miles away in your head," he said.
"Just thinking about how things might have been if it had been..." She stopped herself before she said his name. "...someone else that found me dead drunk that night."

He knew what night she talked about. The night that started this whole weird relationship between her and Dean and Seth. A relationship he never could figure out. They constantly came out to these bars, taking her with them to share her for the night, kicking her out once they were done. Never once had he heard them utter a kind word about her when she wasn't around unless talking about her skills to suck dick counted as kind words. He couldn't figure out what she saw in them.

"They're gonna be here soon," he said.

His heart felt heavy by telling her that. He had never told anyone that he was in love with her. He was going to at some point and suddenly it was all too late. Dean and Seth had found him one day, laughing their heads off as they told him about their night with her. His moment had passed. They had gotten her and he could just sit back and watch as his heart broke a little more every time.

"Please, don't let them take me," she suddenly looked at him beggingly.
"Let who take you?" He asked confused.
"Seth and Dean. Please, Roman, just this once, help me. I know they're your friends but I can't take it anymore," she begged.
"What's going on?" He felt even more confused.

He saw the tears in her eyes as she reached for his hand and squeezed it tight.

"Why wasn't it you who found me that night? You would never have done to me what they did. You would have kept me safe. You've always had such a good heart which is why I fell in love with you," she confessed.
"You're in love with me?" He asked.
"Shit, sorry, I never wanted you to find out. I know you don't share my feelings and I can only imagine how little you must think of me since you only know their side of the story," she said.

He held on tighter to her hand while his free hand reached up behind her head to pull her a bit closer.

"What's going on?" He asked again, more firmly this time.
"They don't take no for an answer," she sucked in a sharp breath. "They're so fucking crazy and I'm so fucking scared that I just go with them every time but I never wanted it. I never wanted them. Please, Roman, please, don't let them take me this time," the tears started running down her cheeks.

He crashed his lips against hers, not completely knowing why. While he kissed her, everything she had just said ran through his mind. He understood completely, he understood everything, and two things stood out. One, she was in love with him too and for that he was very happy. And two, his suddenly now former best friends were forcing themselves on her time after time and for that they deserved to die. Not that he was gonna kill them but they deserved it. He could only do the next best thing, keep her safe and far away from them from now on, and that was exactly what he was gonna do.

"Roman," she whimpered.

He looked at her but her eyes were focusing at something behind him. He turned his head and saw that Seth and Dean had entered the bar. Both of them were grinning wildly at them as they stood by the counter ordering a beer each.

"I won't let them take you," he looked back at her. "I promise."
"You promise?" She asked.
"Yes, I promise. I'm in love with you, Carmen. I had no clue what was going on behind closed doors. I thought you liked them," he said.
"No," she whispered. "I hate them. I hate them for everything they always do to me."

It was at that time Seth and Dean dumped down on a chair each on the other side of the table.

"Roman, Carmen, how nice to find you here," Seth smirked at her.
"Looks like we don't have to pick up anybody else tonight," Dean chuckled.
"Actually you do," Roman said.

He stood up and pulled Carmen up as well, holding her close to his side while looking down at the other two.

"Carmen and I are together," he said.
"Since when?" Seth asked.
"For a little while," he lied. "We wanted to keep it a secret till we were absolutely sure about our feelings but I've never been more sure about anything in my life so I might as well tell the world."

He smiled warmly at her before looking down at the other two again.

"So you two better find someone else. You know how protective I am when it comes to things that are mine," the threat was clear.
"Let's just see how long it'll last," Dean chuckled lowly.

There was a loud sound of glass breaking as Roman swept their beer bottles off the table with his arm and leaned over the table to stare them both down.

"You both know just exactly how much damage I can do and how easy I can take both of you out," he said before leaning even closer. "I know what you two fuckers have been up to and I'm only gonna warn you this once. You don't speak to her, come near her or even look at her or we're gonna have a real problem here. Am I making myself clear?"
"Yes," both Seth and Dean muttered.
"Good," Roman said darkly.

He moved away from the table and took Carmen's hand again. They walked out of the bar together and towards the elevator. It wasn't until they were inside the elevator, he finally pulled her in for a hug and felt her cry against his chest.

"I'm sorry, Roman," she said.
"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said.
"I'm sorry that I'm a crying mess when you're about to be with me the first time," she said.

She looked up at him and he reached his hands up to whipe her cheeks before moving one hand to the back of her head and the other one to her back.

"We're going up to my room to talk. You're gonna tell me everything," he said.
"Roman..." She started.
"No, Carmen, in order for us to start anything, I need to know everything. Nothing you say will make me mad at you. You've done nothing wrong. So we're gonna talk and we're probably gonna cry and once everything is out in the open, we're gonna sleep. Tomorrow I'll call Stephanie and tell her we won't make it to RAW," he said.
"You can't do that," she said.
"Watch me!" He chuckled a little. "And then we're gonna get in my car and you're going home with me."
"And then?" She asked hopefully.
"And then we'll take it from there," he said and bowed his head down to kiss her. "Nice and slowly, whatever you're comfortable with. I finally got you and we got all the time in the world."