Hey, hey kids...we're back again, with a new Dean and Lauren, multi-chapter this time. Takes place right after 'Bump in the Night' timewise and before they get Boomer.

Plenty of protective, angry, loving Dean in this one, so if that's your thing, feel free to come on in.

Ready to do this again? Let's go for it...without further ado...

Boyfriend Of The Year

A wise man once said that the end of one story was the beginning of another – or perhaps it was a quote from a movie.

I can't remember now.

Either way the cruel fact remains that they were right and I was wrong. Happily Ever After is not an actual thing and life – unlike romantic comedies – doesn't stop on that ending kiss scene or a montage during the credits where everyone's dancing and throwing shapes at a wedding and generally having lots of fun.

Life – real life that is – just keeps on going. Complete with the stresses and the trials and tribulations that it was totally, unfairly full of before. The only difference in my case however, was that I no longer had to deal with them alone. I was part of a functioning couple and although we had only been together for less than two months, it was easily the happiest few weeks I'd ever known. In fact, as far as I was concerned the future was rosy.

Yeah, it turned out I was wrong.

The letter that started the whole sorry mess of it was handed over in the hotel one morning as Dean and I had checked out of our room. I recognized Kelly's scruffy handwriting instantly and I absently tore it open as we walked towards the car. Seth and Roman were already waiting out for us, the trunk popped open in a not-so subtle hint.

"You guys are late this morning," Seth smirked at us, "Care to tell us why?"

Dean grunted,

"No – twice."

"Dean," I hissed, in tones of mock outrage, trying to look stern and failing, "Way too much."

It was a dance that the four of us went through most mornings, thanks to the ridiculously close bond their team had. I'd figured out pretty soon into our relationship that everything – everything – got shared with his boys and I'd slowly grown used to the endless amounts of teasing.

Not that I let on.

"What?" Dean shrugged, swinging up our cases and making room for them, "We're all adults here."

"Well some of us are."

As I folded my arms like an unhappy parent, Roman chuckled and swung open the door. As usual they had hired a monster-sized rental and I had to cling onto his arm to climb in. Once I was aboard however, he swung the door shut again as he and Dean took the two seats up front. Seth slammed the trunk and hopped in beside me and we were once again ready to take the show on the road.

"What's that?" he asked as Roman swung us from the parking lot, another town ticked off the ever growing list. He was looking at my hands and glancing down towards them, I realized I was still holding the letter I'd never read,

"Oh, I don't know. My best friend sent it."

"The arm porn girl, right?"

"Kelly."

"Yep, that's the one."

As I pulled loose the folded up page from the envelope, I briefly wondered what my best friend would have thought of the name. In all honestly she would have probably preferred Blonde Bombshell, or Vixen or Seductress but Arm Porn Girl would do. The bigger question was what the hell was she sending me and as my eyes cast over it, I couldn't help but smile,

"Uh oh."

"What?" Dean shot back, turning instantly, his boyfriend spidey-sense on sudden full alert. In response, Seth lent over the seats in between us and skim read the decorated paper with a frown,

"Class reunion?"

Dean sighed loudly, slumping back into the fabric again with a groan,

"Please tell me you're fuckin' kiddin'?"

"Sorry man, I'm just reading what it says."

"A class reunion?"

Slowly I looked up at him, tearing my eyes away from the invite just long enough to clue into the growing debate. Truthfully I had only been kind of half-listening. I was far too excited to concentrate on spoken word. A class reunion? It was literally perfect because for the first time ever I would have something to show. Not only did I have a career in television – well, backstage but I would naturally talk it up – but I would also be attending with my smoking hot boyfriend who –

Oh, wait a minute.

Didn't want to go.

"Huh?" I looked up, eyes widening in panic, "Why do you say that? I don't get it, what's wrong?"

Dean snorted roughly,

"They're just nasty, y' know? People that haven't seen each other in years, pretending they're doin' okay for themselves and that their marriages aren't fallin' apart or that their jobs suck and they wish every day they'd never had kids. I don't buy into all 'a that bullshit, it's just a fuckin' waste of time."

Roman cleared his throat,

"Uh, Dean?"

Then he jerked his thumb across his shoulder and Dean's eyes tracked up towards the rear view in between. The minute he saw my – frankly – crushed expression his face fell and he let out a groan,

"Shit. I knew it. You want to go don't you?"

"No, no," I answered, far too quickly which instantly blew apart my lie, "I – I mean, I guess on some sort of level it might be nice to see the old gang, but I get where you're coming from, it is kind of silly, so you totally don't have to come. I'll just – you know – go on my own."

Dean sighed heavily and threw his eyes skywards,

"Lauren, you're not goin' on your own to that thing."

"But you said you didn't want to – ,"

"I know and I meant it, but you want to go," he shrugged, "So end of discussion, okay? We'll go."

Grinning like an idiot, I burst through the seats at him, wrapping my arms around him in a tight backwards hug. I squeezed him as fiercely as I was physically able and strained against the seatbelt to kiss him on the cheek.

"You are the best boyfriend ever."

"Don't forget it,"

"Never, I promise, cross my heart."

By the time I unwound myself – reluctantly – from him, he was smiling through his earlier grouchy façade. His hand had come up to rest across my knuckles and as I slowly slid my fingers from his chest, his pads stroked mine and made my shiver a little bit.

Ugh.

The man was totally and utterly irresistible and what was more, he knew it as well, so in the end it was down to Seth to break the moment, which he did with a snort and a shake of his head,

"Man Ambrose, she's got you whipped."

As Dean's eyes flickered back to the rear view mirror warningly, I decided to take matters into my own hands and as a bright car passed us on the other side of the road, I reached over and shot a curled fist out, punching Seth across the arm,

"Yellow car."

"Ow – what the hell?"

"What?" I shrugged back at him, going for innocent with a dash of wide-eyed, "Don't tell me you've never played the yellow car game before? With all the time you three spend on the road?"

Seth blinked back at me,

"Sure we have, but that was a taxi cab, they don't count."

"Oops," I smiled, "My mistake."

From up in the front behind the wheel Roman chuckled and Dean smirked across at his teammate,

"That's my girl."

"Come on," Seth huffed, "She barely even grazed me,"

I gaped at him,

"What? That was my hardest punch."

"Well then I hate to have to break it to you Lauren, but your hardest punch is not that hard."

"Is too," I pouted, before whining, "Dean tell him."

"Sorry babe, I gotta go with Seth on this one."

"What?"

"Princess," Dean offered, turning to look at me, "You hit like a eight year old boy, okay?"

"That's it," I huffed, "I'm taking it back, you are not the world's best boyfriend anymore."

He raised a brow at me and the look made me shiver and tweaked up the corners of my lips.

Smoking hot.

"I'm takin' you to your fuckin' reunion aren't I?"

"Alright," I grinned, "You can be the best again."

"When is it?" Roman asked from somewhere in the background as I lost myself staring deep into Dean's blue eyes. Seth nudged me with his elbow and I startled,

"Huh? What?"

"I said when is your reunion baby girl?"

"Oh right,"

That was a very good point. There I was busy getting all excited when I hadn't even checked to make sure we could go.

Idiot.

Scanning the bright pink backing of the invite – organized by a classmate by the name of Courtney Reynolds, who had always had a strange affinity for the shade despite being positively perma-tanned herself – I set eyes on the date and then let out a gasp,

"Next Thursday,"

"Crap," Dean hissed in confirmation.

No tapings.

No house shows.

We were officially good to go and I squeaked in excitement and made the guys jump.

"That's it, I'm going to have to buy a new dress. Wait, I'd better text Kelly first and see what colour she's wearing. Could you imagine if we clashed?"

"Trust me," Dean drawled back, "The thought keeps me awake at night."

I ignored him as my fingers hammered out a message and then fired it off, my heart beating fast. There were a million different emotions racing through my system and the fact that the reunion was happening in my hometown added in a whole lot of other thoughts as well.

"You can meet Kelly and Brent – oh my god – we can finally meet Roger. I need to hold that little dude. I mean, he is my godchild after all. Ooh, we can stay at my mom's house while we're in town. There are so many things I'm dying to show you."

I was beaming as I was gabbling at them – sort of punch-drunk on eagerness – and in the rear view I could see Dean biting back a grin.

"So who else is going to this thing?" Seth asked, "Like, your whole class or just a couple of people?"

"Well," I shrugged, "The invite is to everyone, so whoever wants to turn up I guess."

"Including your ex-boyfriend?" Roman asked steadily and instantly I felt Dean's entire body tense.

"Who, Andy? Oh, wow. Maybe. I don't know."

Dean growled,

"I fuckin' hope he is. Then I can break his arm, see how he likes that."

Uh oh.

I hadn't thought about the two of them meeting but now that I had I knew it wouldn't be good. After all, Dean hadn't liked the sound of my ex-boyfriend from the moment I'd mentioned him and it had only gotten worse. Not only had Andy upped and left me when my mom was on her deathbed, but he'd fractured my elbow too. Added to the fact that Andy hadn't been the most generous of lovers when it came to me and the whole thing was a sure-fire recipe to get Dean heated and apparently vengeful too.

"Hey," I whispered, leaning forward and walking my fingers across the back of his neck, "No fighting please, okay?"

He batted me off crossly but then caught my hand and pulled it round to lay a kiss across my palm. For a big tough wrestler who had a reputation for lunacy, he could be super romantic and loving like that and despite the fact that I'd had time to get used to it, his little tender moments still made me catch my breath,

"That asshole fuckin' hurt you Lauren."

"Accidentally, you know that. Besides, I want you to be the talk of the reunion, but not because you beat someone up."

As he glanced into the rear view I saw his brows quirk up at me and suddenly he was grinning,

"Talk of the reunion, huh? Plannin' on showin' me off to all your friends are you Princess? Gonna parade me round like a big old piece of meat?"

"Are you kidding me?" I giggled, "Hello? Of course I am. Not every shy and mousy little schoolgirl can turn up ten years later with a hot man on her arm you know. I'm going to milk this with everything I've got, or, more specifically, everything you've got."

He smirked at me,

"Everything?"

I shrugged,

"Well, maybe not that."

From the seat alongside me, Seth made a face and whined a little in protest,

"Come on, you're creeping me out. Can we not have one damn conversation anymore without the two of you eye fucking each other?"

Dean grinned at him,

"Nope."

"Fine," Seth huffed back, "But just so you know, the two of you aren't as cute as you think you are."

I gasped,

"What? Um, I'll have you know that the two of us are adorable," I poked him in the side, "Admit it Rollins. You know we are."

From up in the front – still driving us steadily – Roman chuckled at our familial bickering like a father picking his kids up from school. In many ways, over the past few months, that's what we'd become. We were a family of sorts. I mean, naturally the guys had already been one, but I was lucky to have been accepted by both Roman and Seth. Instead of resent Dean's annoying new girlfriend, I had simply been allowed to slot right into place.

The pair of them were my protective big brothers.

It was nice.

I'd never had siblings before.

"No," Seth shot back, breaking the mood a little, "You two are tolerable at best."

"Roman," I whined, "He said Dean and I were tolerable."

The big man grinned broadly,

"Don't make me come back there."

As Seth rolled his eyes and muttered something incoherent – although it sounded kind of like oh for god sakes – I sat back and smiled, glancing down at the invitation and feeling the butterflies start to build up again. I was ridiculously excited about shortly being homebound and showing Dean the area and showing off Dean.

For everything I had gone through and everything I had lost in the last twelve months, somewhere along the way I had gained a new family and – best of all – the love of my life. Why wouldn't I want to show that off to everyone? Besides, the fact that he was gorgeous didn't hurt, right? Looking up again, I caught Dean's eye in the rear view and he winked at me and made me grin.

"You alright?" he asked and I nodded back brightly,

"Yep."

I meant it.

I was more than alright. If Dean was going as my very hot plus one then I already knew the reunion would be great and I sat back daydreaming about the looks on people's faces and what dress I might wear and what it would feel like to be back again. As far as I could tell, there was only one potential hiccup and I shut my eyes briefly.

Please Andy, stay away.

Little did I know that in praying for his absence, I would actually do the opposite and make him show up.

Dun dun duuuunnnnn….

Okay, so as ever, let me know what you're thinking (preferably based on the story but random thoughts will also do) and I'll see you in three days (yes, we're back to this again) so until then...