When Seth opened his eyes next day, he was surprised that she was already fully dressed. Her clothes were packed away in her backpack again, their jackets were hung back up and even Dean's borrowed shirt she had slept in was folded and placed beside his bed.
"You didn't run," he sent her a little smile.
"I wanted to," she smiled back.
He sat up and swung his legs out on the floor.
"Look, I don't know who you are and what kind of past you and Roman share exactly but I do know that he doesn't usually respond to anybody the way he did to you last night so you're important to him," he said.
"I was at some point. He was important to me too," she said.
"Rough past?" He asked.
"Not so much between him and I. He was my light in the darkness," she answered. "It was when he wasn't around, everything was rough."
"And still you disappeared and left him," he said.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds. She knew he wasn't trying to make her feel uncomfortable on purpose but that was exactly what he was doing. He was just looking out for his friend and she was happy that Roman had friends like that. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again before steering the conversation in another direction.
"Is she good to him?" She asked. "That girl. What was her name? Sasha?"
He sighed as he thought about what do answer. He wasn't sure if he should tell her the truth or lie.
"She's a wrestler too," he chose an easy way.
"Oh, that Sasha," she nodded. "It must be new since it isn't reported anywhere."
"You follow him online," he grinned.
"Hard not to," she admitted. "But you're dodging my question. Is she good to him?"
"I'm not sure what to tell you," he said.
"She's a bitch!" Dean let them know he was awake too.
"Dean," Seth tried.
"Cut the crap," Dean said.
He kicked off the covers and moved up to sit, shaking his head a bit and stretching his body.
"It won't get us anywhere to bullshit around this thing. Sasha's a bitch and Roman's not happy," he continued.
"Sometimes he is," Seth said.
"He must see something in her if he's with her," she said.
"I'm sure he does," Seth said.
"Me and Seth just don't see it," Dean said and held up his hand before Seth could say anything. "Just shut up, Seth. You don't like her either."
"She's a bitch," Seth agreed lowly.
"He must love her though," she said.
"I think he does. He says he does," Seth said.
"That's good," she said.
She tried to smile but it didn't reach her eyes. It didn't matter how she felt about it. She blew it eight years ago when she ran away without a word. Roman deserved to be happy no matter who he was with.
"Alright, do I personally have to kick you into the shower? What does a girl have to do to get breakfast around her?" She put on a little fake laugh.
Almost an hour later they finally made it downstairs to get breakfast. They sat down and waited a couple of minutes until Roman and Sasha finally showed up.
"Who's the ring rat?" Sasha was in her classic bad morning mood.
Roman sent Sage an apologetic look. He was good at containing his anger in public and he didn't wanna cause a scene but he was mad. Sage was nowhere close to being a ring rat.
"Sasha, meet Sage," he said.
"That's Sage?" Sasha spat. "A girl? You said it was a man!"
"No, I told you her name. You just assumed she was a man," he said.
"And you didn't think to correct me?" She was fuming.
"No, I didn't, because I wanted a fucking night of sleep and not fight like you always wanna do!" He snapped.
"Well, excuse me for wanting to keep my man to myself!" She sneered.
"That's just it! You don't fucking trust me!" He sneered back.
"Because you give me no reason to!" She yelled.
She turned on her heel and disappeared quickly. Normally Roman would go after her to smooth things out but as his eyes landed on Sage, his body automatically sat down on the chair next to her. He could deal with Sasha later.
"Sorry about that," he smiled at her. "How did you sleep?"
"Just fine," she answered.
"She slept on the floor," Seth said.
"What?" Roman asked.
"She refused swopping places," Dean said.
"Sage..." Roman's voice trailed off.
"The carpet was soft. I slept just fine," she smiled reassuringly. "And I don't wanna be the reason one of them screw up their backs and can't do their job."
"There's no arguing with this one," Dean chuckled.
"I know," Roman shook his head with a little laugh. "I remember all too well."
They sat there for 30 minutes while eating breakfast and smalltalking.
"We better get on the road," Seth looked at the time. "We'll get a McMahon spanking out of this world if we arrive late."
Roman felt his heart tighten in his chest. He had only just found her the night before after eight long and gruesome years. He wasn't ready to leave her again already.
"Where are you planning to go from here?" He asked.
"I don't know," she scratched the back of her head. "Look, Roman, I'm kind of just scraping through life, going wherever the wind takes me."
"You got money?" He asked.
"No," she looked down ashamed.
"Were you planning on ditching us with the bill for your breakfast?" Dean chuckled.
"I was actually planning on sneaking out," she confessed.
"Don't fucking steal around us," Roman sighed. "I'll pay and you'll get your ass out in the rental and come with us."
"No, Roman," she tried.
"It's not up for debate. I promised you many years ago to take care of you although I wasn't exactly picturing it going like this," he stood up. "Get your ass out in the car or I'll drag you out there."
Knowing he wasn't joking around, she went back with Seth and Dean to grab their bags and followed them down to the car where Roman was already waiting with his bag.
"You don't ride with Sasha?" She asked.
"She's too good for us," Dean rolled his eyes and made his voice sound high pitched. "Roman, your friends always laugh at me and they don't smell good. I wanna ride with Bayley."
"Hey, that's my girlfriend you're talking about," Roman said.
"But it's true," Dean grinned.
They all entered the car and shortly after Seth had them on the road.
"So why did you leave?" Roman suddenly asked.
She sighed and shook her head with a little smile. That slick fucker, waiting till he had her cornered in a moving car she couldn't get out of before poking into that conversation again.
"That night you just kept going on and on how things were gonna change one day," she said.
"But I was right," he said.
"I didn't need one day that night. I needed that moment. I just needed you to hold me and you wouldn't shut up," she said.
"And we ended up fighting over something so small and silly," he remembered.
"I went home afterwards and my father was in one of his moods," she said.
Dean turned his head enough to look at Roman while Seth made do with the rear view mirrow. All three people in the car watched as Roman tensed up and clenched his fists. Dean and Seth both looked at each other. They knew something was up but didn't dare say anything. Instead they just listened as she started sharing.
She walked back home with tears running down her cheeks. Why couldn't Roman understand that she couldn't make do with dreams and hopes when reality was one big hell that she had to fight on a daily basis? He always tried to see a brighter future for her, for them together, but he was dreaming. Dreams she couldn't share. Her father was never gonna let her leave and Roman already knew that.
She tried being quiet as she entered the house but of course he heard her. Her footsteps and her cries. He always did. She stopped as he suddenly stood in the open door to the livingroom, leaning up against the doorframe with his arms crossed and that mean look on his face.
"What the hell are you crying for?" He asked.
"Nothing," she kept her head down.
"You answer me when I ask you a question!" He sneered.
He demanded respect as always. She didn't respect him though. She hadn't respected him in years, not since her mother left and he started taking out his anger on her instead.
"It's that Roman boy, isn't it? You're always running around with him, being a no good whore just like your mother was," he said.
"At least she did the smart thing and left your pathetic ass!" She shot back.
She knew she was in trouble as soon as the words had left her mouth and just a second later the back of his hand landed across her face and sent her straight down to the floor.
"She left you too, you little bitch!" He sneered.
"Because she knew you were gonna chase her down and drag her back if she took me. She never thought you would start hitting me too," she cried.
"Get up!" He sneered.
He grabbed her hair and pulled her up as many times before. She never got used to the pain and as always she screamed and tried to grab his hand to ease the pressure on her scalp. He pushed her up against the wall and grabbed her throat instead.
"Look at you!" She defied him again. "What a man you are! Beating your own wife and then your own daughter! You're a fucking joke of a father!"
"A joke with a gun and a badge," he reminded her.
"What are you gonna do? Shoot me and say I came at you? Go ahead! Being dead sure beats being around you!" She sneered.
"Fine, you wanna leave, then fucking leave!" He pushed her towards the front door. "See how well you'll survive on your own! Leave like your whore-mother did!"
For a short while the tension and silence laid heavy and thick in the car. Seth and Dean kept their eyes on the road but they heard everything. She just looked at Roman while he took in every word she said.
"He did that many times but he never really let me leave. You know all this," she said.
"So what was different this time? And why didn't you come to me?" He asked.
"I did. I ran straight to your house, thinking you would be just as miserable like me after our fight that evening, but I saw you and your parents through the window. You were happy. You were laughing," she said.
"Ah, shit," it came back to him. "I was sad when I went home but there was a letter waiting for me. I had been accepted into the wrestling school I most wanted to attend. I realized I could finally take you out of the town. Just throw you in my car and drive and once we were over the city line, he had no restriction to follow us," he said. "You must have gotten by just as we were reading the letter."
She blinked and stared at him. She felt tears slowly form in her eyes. Had she really run away for nothing? She knew it hadn't been for nothing. She had seen a chance and taken it while she could, before her father came back around and started searching for her. And he always searched for her. She hadn't realized her tears had started falling until Roman reached over to dry her cheeks with his fingers.
"How did you get out of there?" He asked.
"I walked from your house and suddenly found myself at the train station. A train was about to leave and I just stepped aboard it without knowing where it went. I dropped my phone in a trash can on the train station just before stepping aboard so he wouldn't be able to find me. I had no plan and no money. Just the clothes on my back. I just knew I couldn't do it anymore," she said.
"Baby girl," he said lowly and took her hand.
For a second she froze at his old nickname. How she had missed hearing him calling her that but it was just a slip up or a way to be friendly. She wasn't his baby girl anymore. Sasha was.
"It was so fucked up. I was 20 years old and legally allowed to leave and yet he forced me to stay. What the fuck can you do when your father is the sheriff?" She shook her head.
"He's not anymore," he said.
"He's not?" She asked.
"You haven't kept track for all these years?" He asked.
"No. Well, of you I have, but I left my father and that town in the past. What happened?" She asked.
"He fell into the bottle some years back. Well, officially. He always drank in secret but I don't need to tell you that," he answered.
She nodded and concentrated on breathing normally so new tears wouldn't form.
"I went to your house next morning to show you the letter so that we could finally start planning our future," he said.
She snapped her eyes back at him.
"He said you were out, sorry for using his direct words, whoring yourself out. And then he laughed and said you would probably be back for dinner as always. But you didn't come back. You never came back. I searched for you and he searched for you. He even accused me for hiding you somewhere," he said. "Man, I wish."
"I'm sorry, Roman," she said.
"You came back. Somehow you found your way back to me," he said.
"Yeah, eight years too late," she giggled sadly.
"It's never too late to become friends again," he said.
"Yeah, friends," she let go off his hand and stared straight ahead. "We can be friends."