AN UNEXPECTED FACE FROM THE PAST

She slunk into the backstage area, her eyes scanning the hallway for Damien, torn between hoping she found him, and hoping she didn't.

They'd continued their argument from the night before, via texts, and she was seriously wondering why in the hell she put up with him when he got this way. And then she reminded herself how scary intense real love was and how badly it hurt when it was gone.

Her cell phone vibrated in her hand, as Pain by 3 Days Grace started to play seconds later. And she collided with someone. Looking up, her breath caught in her throat a moment, and she stared awkwardly at him, but said nothing.

'You weren't important enough for him to even give a choice when he left, or say goodbye to, so what the hell makes you think he remembers you?' she thought to herself as she noticed he still stood there too, like he was frozen or something. She studied him, her eyes showing a little annoyance as she put her hand on her hip and tilted her head to one side curiously.

"Are you going to move?"

Dean had been high on the adrenaline rush that always came after a drawn out, sweaty and violent, yet oddly satisfying and intense match. So he'd been reading a text from Sami Callahan when he rounded the corner, and smacked straight into the petite brunette.

She looked familiar... As he searched his brain and thought back, pondering why, she looked up at him, hint of a bitter smirk on her face, and a hurt look in her eyes that she quickly masked with cold and calm.

He heard her ask if he was going to move and for a moment, he wondered why she was acting like she didn't know him..

The fact that he was pissed, and he was still being a cocky prick as per his persona, caused him to answer casually, "Why? So ya can go find someone to fuck?"

Ember blinked and then looked at him. It'd hurt when he said that, but she remembered that he'd never break character on camera...And he probably didn't even remember her.

"I'm here to see Damien. But if your curious, we probably will fuck since he's my boyfriend currently, so the answer to your stupid assumption is yes. Now move." Ember said calmly, and in the coldest and most distant voice she could muster. She wasn't sure why, but she felt the sudden urge to hurt him like he'd hurt her when he left her behind without a good bye.

The words had the desired effect. He was good, but not good enough to hide the quick blaze of jealous rage or the following flash of pain as the words hit their mark and stuck like a knife. Ember smirked, satisfied with herself, and finally, she rolled her eyes, shoved past him.

Dean stood there, watching her walk down the long hallway, as he tried to figure out why the hell she was acting hurt when it was her who didn't write back any of the times he'd written.

He'd actually asked her to come to him several times in the letters and she never responded a single damn time.

Yeah, he'd been stupid enough to let her dad keep them apart.. Yeah, he'd left town without saying goodbye.. But he didn't want to hurt her any worse than he'd hurt her beforehand and her father made a veiled threat that Dean was pretty sure he would make good on, because the guy was a monster.

He just hid it one hell of a lot better than Dean had back then.

He'd had to make a choice, and seeing her tonight, after all the years without seeing her, he was wondering if he made the wrong choice then.

A growl fell from his lips as he watched her with that smarmy fuck Sandow, watched Sandow kissing her, watched him giving her flowers.

"Wonder if you'd be so god damn cocky if she knew your little secret." he muttered to himself as he lightly punched a wall and dug around for his cigarettes and a lighter. He wanted to be alone right now. Seeing her tonight had set him off, set him back, ripped open old wounds he'd only just managed to shove down deep enough to maybe make it through each day.

Her cold voice, those bitter words kept repeating in his mind and he growled in frustration. Somehow, he had to get her back. Tonight was a sign and he was going to take it as such.

Not that he believed in that shit, but he had to at least try. Because her with Sandow when she'd always belonged to him and with him? It was a huge mistake.

He couldn't just stand back and let it happen.

The door to the garage flew open and she stormed out, grumbling to herself as she fumbled around in her pockets with shaking hands for her keys, and jammed her hand into her eyes, trying to cut off the flow of tears.

"He said he wasn't going to do that anymore." she muttered as she sat down in the drivers seat, rested her head on the wheel.

Dean tapped on the glass and when she rolled down the window, he asked with a cold voice much like her own earlier, "Trouble in paradise already?"

"Fuck off."

" Nope."

"I mean it. Just leave me alone." Ember said as she started to try and roll her window back up. He stopped it and then leaned in and whispered, "Drop the act, Ember. You and I both know you know exactly who I am and exactly why I'm not going to leave you alone."

"But you had no problem doing it when you just left town. Why can't you now?"

"You don't know a damn thing, Ember.. But I'm going to let ya keep thinkin exactly what ya want. About me, about why I left, all of it. But know this.. You're mine.. You were mine then, you will always be mine."

"How about no? I mean that promise, Jon.. It was made when I stupidly believed you did love me. You don't love anyone but Jon Good."

She started her car and drove out of the garage, heading back to the hotel. She wasn't sure whether she'd stay, or she'd leave and go back to the apartment she shared with Damien, but she did know that right now, she couldn't be around him.

Another prime example of why men couldn't be trusted. They all lied, they all used you and hurt you and then walked away, and some of them, like her father, were complete and total monsters.

As soon as she'd parked, she realized that Damien sent her a sarcastic text and told her 'not to wait up'.

"Fine, Aaron.. If you're gonna play? I'm gonna play too."

She got out of the car and walked into the hotel, every intention of going into their room and just lying down and crying herself to sleep.

But that didn't exactly happen. Instead, about halfway to the door, she heard a car door slam, heard Jon behind her, yelling.

"Go away." she yelled back before he caught up to her and stopped her.

"Ya know he's fuckin any other girl he can find, right? When did you get stupid as fuck, Ember?"

"Probably right after I realized you were a heartless coward." Ember said as she stormed into the hotel and punched the up button on the elevator, waiting impatiently.

Dean stood there, his hand in his hair as he tried to figure out how the hell to fix things to his advantage again, because he didn't like this situation one bit.

Damien had someone who belonged to him and now, of course, Damien was going to pay. And somehow, he had to prove to Ember that she was completely wrong about him, about why and how he left.

His obsessive personality was not going to allow him to let this alone. Now, he was going to push at this until he got his way, or he decided he didn't want her anymore. Not any sooner. If she thought she was calling the shots?

She was mistaken.

He wasn't letting her go a second time. Not when the first time almost killed him. Even if he kept the pain buried and never talked about her, or show it.

It had almost killed him.

And tonight only proved that it'd been a mistake to let her go.