There were very few wake up calls that Roman welcomed. One of them was waking up to find Dean sitting on his stomach and just looking at him. Dean liked to do that.

It was weird.

But after all their years together, Roman had grown to find it quite endearing.

The other, and definitely his favourite, was waking up to his baby girl poking at his face. She liked to do that.

It was weird.

But it woke Roman up with a smile every time.

Jojo's little fingers were sharp as they poked Roman's cheek and his nose and his eyelids, accompanied by her singing, 'beep-boop-boop-beep-beep-boop'. Roman opened his eyes just in time for a finger to catch him right in the eyeball. Jojo gasped as Roman cried out and rubbed his watering eye. Instead of apologising, she huffed.

"Why did you open your eyes daddy? Now you got yourself poked."

Roman blinked his watery eyes at her and sighed with a smile.

"My bad sweetheart."

"It's okay," she patted his hair.

"You're all dressed up," he yawned as his sight cleared up.

"I'm going to my summer camp, remember? Except it's not even a real camp because we don't even get to sleep over, remember?"

Roman nodded and started to get up, "Alright baby, I'll drop you off."

"No no," she pushed him back down, "No no. You go to sleep so you can see me do my recital later."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh," she nodded and patted his cheek before kissing it, "'Sides, Enzo's dropping me off." She said, before climbing over Roman to reach Dean so she could kiss his cheek as well. She jumped off the bed and picked up her backpack by the door.

"Bye bye," she waved, skipping out of the room.

Dean only stirred once she was out, "Huh? Wha's that?"

"Jojo was saying bye," said Roman as he lay his head back down.

"What for?" Dean yawned.

"The summer camp that's not really a camp. Enzo's driving her."

"'Kay," mumbled Dean, readying himself to go back to sleep. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.

"Roman."

"Huh." Came the mumbled reply.

"Did… did you say Enzo's driving her?"

"Uh huh."

Dean sat up, blinking slowly, "Enzo's driving her?"

"Yeah. Why are-" Roman froze as he realised. He shot up and looked at Dean, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Enzo's driving her," he said horrified.

Without another word, the two leapt out of bed and ran. Dean was by the door when he groaned, "Goddammit Roman, put some pants on!"

:::

"Alright, you ready?" asked Enzo, turning to the backseat.

"Ready," grinned Jojo as she sat with her belt buckled. Enzo nodded and turned back to the front. He had just turned the key in the ignition when he saw the front doors of the house fly open.

Enzo sighed when he saw Roman and Dean come running out, both dressed only in sweatpants.

"Dammit," sighed Enzo, "Busted."

Jojo gasped, "You said a bad word Enzo!"

"Shit, sorry," he winced.

"You said a even badder word Enzo!"

Enzo clamped his lips shut before he could make it worse. He pulled out his wallet and turned to Jojo.

"Twenty bucks and you don't tell your parents."

Jojo took the money with a grin and zipped her lips. When Enzo turned back to the front, there were two faces glaring at him from the window, breathing quite heavily.

"Are you in trouble Enzo?" whispered Jojo.

"Oh yeah, definitely,"

Enzo cleared his throat before rolling the window down, "Good morning," he said politely .

"Enzo," said Roman through gritted teeth.

"I was… I was just warming it up for you," he said with a too wide grin.

"Get out. Of the car."

Enzo sighed and opened the door, slipping out slowly.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't drive," glared Dean, "Ever. At all."

"I think that was a bit of an overreaction," shrugged Enzo.

"Dude-"

"Hey!" Dean was interrupted, and they all turned to see Gina coming out of the house, "How about we don't all stand outside the house naked, yeah?"

"Come on, we're totally wearing pants this time," said Roman.

Gina rolled her eyes, "What the hell is going on out here?"

"Enzo was trying to drive Jojo to camp!" yelled Dean, sounding a lot like he was tattling.

Gina just raised her eyebrow.

"Enzo can't drive." Explained Roman, "His license was suspended by the court."

"It was just a minor misunderstanding," exclaimed Enzo.

Gina just sighed, "You know what, I' not even surprised." She turned to the car, "And Jojo doesn't need to be dropped off anyway. We carpool with the Carson's."

"But Mama!" pouted Jojo, her head out of the car window, "I don't wanna carpool with the Carson's. Molly hates me!"

"Yeah well, you burned her hair off baby, what did you expect?"

"But that wasn't even my fault!" she threw her hands up.

Gina sighed, "Okay baby." There was a sudden honk down the driveway, and a minivan pulled up.

"There they are now, go on honey."

Jojo sighed loudly as she got out of the car.

"Bye," she waved at everyone as she made her way down the long driveway, "Thanks for the money Enzo! I promise I won't tell!"

Once she was gone, they all turned to Enzo, "Why'd you give her money?" asked Gina with narrowed eyes.

Enzo blinked as he tried to think up a good lie.

He couldn't.

"Uh, who wants waffles? I… I made waffles."

:::

Once inside the house, they all gravitated towards the kitchen. Roman and Dean were too awake now to go back to sleep anyway.

"It's too early to be up," grumbled Dean, "How do they expect kids to function when they're up so early? It's not natural," He glared at Enzo when he saw that he didn't look the least bit tired, "Why were you up so early anyway?"

"I'm a morning person," Enzo shrugged, hoping that they didn't catch the lie in his voice, or see the bags under his eyes.

"It's not even 8 am," groaned Dean as he drowned his waffles in syrup, "What the hell kinda summer camp starts at 8 am?"

"It's not a camp," scoffed Gina, "It's summer school."

"Summer school?" frowned Roman, "For six year olds?"

"For very… special six year olds," she shrugged, "We tell the kids it's a camp to make them feel better."

"And they believe you?" asked Enzo.

"They're six year old who have to go to summer camp," she sighed, "Of course they believe us."

"No," Roman shook his head, "I mean… we all know Jojo ain't the smartest kid in the world, but… summer school?"

Gina sighed and went over to the middle drawer in the kitchen. She pulled out a piece of paper and slid it over to Roman.

"That's her latest spelling test."

Roman's eyes widened as he looked over the piece of paper, "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Come on, it can't be that bad." Said Dean.

Gina looked at him with tired eyes, "She spelt every word wrong except one."

Dean blinked, "Well… well she got one right. That's not so bad."

"The word she got right is 'wrong'," said Gina blandly.

Enzo couldn't help his snort of laughter, which he quickly turned into a cough when he saw Gina's glare.

"I'm sure deep down," said Roman, "Way, way deep, she's a genius at something."

"You know, Ro," started Dean, "It's your fault for dropping her on the stairs when she was a baby."

Roman cleared his throat loudly and Gina's eyebrows rose, "What's that now?"

Dean winced as he realised that had slipped out, "Okay, in his defence," he tried, "The stairs wasn't even the worst time we dropped her."

Roman's head snapped to Dean in complete disbelief.

Dean squeezed his eyes shut, realising he'd just made it worse. The silence in the kitchen was deafening as Gina stared hard at Roman.

"Hey Enzo, wanna help me with that thing?"

"Definitely," nodded Enzo, and the two shot out of the kitchen as fast as possible, taking their plates with.

They had just managed to escape when they heard Gina's yell in the kitchen.

"YOU DROPPED MY BABY!"

:::

By the time Gina had tired herself out shouting at Roman, it was noon and time to go to Jojo's recital.

They all rode in Gina's silver beamer instead of Roman's truck, which she called a death trap.

Gina drove, but let Enzo sit in the front because she was still mad at Roman and Dean for dropping baby Jojo on multiple occasions.

Enzo couldn't help his smug smile the entire ride to the school. There were already cars in the parking lot, but Gina drove around the back and parked in a private spot.

"I'm part of the PTA," she explained when Enzo raised his eyebrows, "And having Roman Reigns as my baby daddy means all the other moms like to suck up to me," She looked back at Roman with a glare, "See? At least there's one thing you're good for, Roman."

She got out of the car and Roman sighed, "I'm never gonna hear the end of this."

"Don't worry," Dean patted his shoulder, "You know she loves you deep down. Way, way deep."

Roman rolled his eyes and the three followed Gina out of the car and into the auditorium.

It took only about five minutes for the room to fill up. Gina spent most of those minutes telling the boys to shut up lest they draw attention to themselves. Although it didn't take long for people to notice that there were three WWE Superstars in the front row. Maybe that's why it was so full.

"I feel awkward," whispered Roman at all the stares.

"Well everyone knew you were gonna be here," shrugged Gina, "Jojo likes to boast," Gina let out a laugh, "And she especially loves telling people that Dean Ambrose is her daddy's boyfriend.

Their heads snapped to Gina, their eyes impossibly wide.

"She… she says what?' choked Dean. Gina and Enzo were trying not to laugh on the looks on their faces.

She shook her head, "Don't worry, nobody actually believes her. Now shush, they're about to start."

Music from The Nutcracker started to play softly over the speakers as the curtains on the stage slowly drew open.

The 'sugarplum princess' was an older girl in a pink and white tutu standing on her toes in the middle of the stage. She was surrounded by little 'fairies' with their heads looking down. At the very very back, was Jojo Reigns.

All the little girls stood quietly, waiting for their cue, but not Jojo. She lifted her head and searched the audience. When she spotted the four of them in the front row, she waved with a grin. In the wings, the schools ballet teacher threw her hands in the air in defeat.

When the cue for dancing came, all the little girls started a sequence of very cute looking moves. Obviously, putting Jojo in the back had been a strategic move on the part of the dance teacher. She looked perfectly happy dancing on the stage, a huge grin on her face the entire time, but Dean had been right. Jojo lacked any and all types of grace.

Jojo waved four more times during the recital, much to the agony of the woman in the wings. The smile that had been on Gina's face faded slowly throughout the performance and she spent the whole time wincing. Roman was gaping in fascination and disbelief. He had no idea a little girl could have less grace than a robot. Both Enzo and Dean were half convinced that she was doing this on purpose, because she didn't look the least bit sorry for accidentally tripping the line by pirouetting in the wrong direction. At that point the woman in the wings sat down on the floor and put her face in her hands.

Gina kept scolding the boys for laughing, but by the end of it, she too had her head in her hands and was trying not to laugh. Dean made no effort in hiding his laughter, he clapped every time Jojo tripped (causing her to giggle and wave at him) and sniggered into his hand when the final bow happened and Jojo was looking the wrong way.

The applause coming from the front row was deafening. The girls had obviously been told to stand quietly until everyone stopped clapping. Jojo had obviously missed the memo, because she jumped up and clapped along with the audience.

"I fucking love this little girl," Enzo shook is head as he wiped his eyes.

:::

"Did you see me? Did you see me?" Jojo jumped up and down as she ran towards the car. She jumped into Roman's arms grinning, "Was I good Daddy?'

Roman hesitated as he looked at her hopeful face, "You were unbelievable sweetheart."

"Damn straight," muttered Dean, receiving a hard nudge from Gina.

Jojo grinned giddily, "That's exactly what Miss Hattie said!"

"I'm sure she did," nodded Roman.

"Except Miss Karen said maybe I should try out for soccer," said Jojo, "Miss Karen is our ballet teacher. I think she really likes me 'cause every time after practice she wants to talk to Mama."

Gina's eyes widened, "Did she also ask to talk today?"

Jojo nodded, "Uh huh. She's on her way here now."

"Oh okay," Gina cleared her throat, "Alright everyone in the car, time to go."

"But Mama Miss Karen said-"

"I'll talk to her later, baby."

Dean couldn't help his grin, "Why don't you want to talk to Miss Karen about your daughters dancing Mama?"

"Get in the car Dean!" she shouted.

:::

The rest of the day was spent at home, mostly in the pool. Jojo swam with Enzo and Dean while Roman watched cautiously from the side, because he believed that if the good Lord wanted humans to be in water he would've given them gills. Jojo, however, swam like she was born to, hardly ever needing to hold onto the side or touch the floor of the pool. Roman watched the three with a smile. He could've done so for hours, but then Gina called him inside to help with dinner.

"They're gonna come out looking like prunes," she sighed at the sounds of laughter coming from outside.

Roman chuckled, "Yeah well, they're having fun."

Gina nodded, "She always has so much fun when you guys come."

"I wish we never had to go," he sighed.

Gina nodded, "Yeah me too."

Roman looked at her with high eyebrows, "What was that?"

"Nothing."

He grinned.

"Did you just admit to feeling something other than disdain for me and Dean?"

Gina rolled her eyes, "Finish with those carrots."

Roman still kept grinning, "We love you too Gina."

"Oh shut up, you're still annoying as all hell."

Roman shrugged, knowing it was true. They carried on with the cooking, Roman doing so under careful scrutiny because Gina apparently didn't trust him in the kitchen. Their conversation revolved around their daughter and Gina's work and the food they were cooking. Until Gina finally couldn't hold herself anymore.

"So what's the deal with Enzo?" she asked the question she's wanted to ask since they arrived.

"What do you mean?" asked Roman.

Gina sighed, "Well I've never seen him before. I've never heard you or Dean say a thing about him either."

"Yeah well, we weren't friends until very recently." He said, "He's been having a hard time,"

"Well what about his friends? What about that Cass guy?"

Roman's hand froze over the cheese he was grating at the mention of the name.

"What?" asked Gina, "I watch wrestling, Sometimes. I mean, I know the basics ."

"When was the last time you watched?"

Gina shrugged, "It's been a while."

Roman sighed, "That's why."

Gina looked at him questioningly, and Roman sighed, putting down the cheese. He turned to Gina and told her what had happened.

She shook her head when he finished, "You see, this is why I fucking hate your job."

She turned back to the chopping board, pulling out more onions, even though they had done enough already.

"What the hell is wrong with these people?" she said through gritted teeth as she chopped, "I mean, from what I've watched, this Cass looked like a decent guy. A good guy even. Why the hell would he go and do something so cruel?"

Roman sighed and shrugged, "He wants the gold."

"Everyone wants the gold!" she snapped, "That don't mean everyone has to be backstabbing son of a bitch! Can't people just be nice?"

Roman didn't mention the fact that Gina herself was the meanest person he knew. It didn't seem like the right time, especially since she was holding that big knife.

Once the onion was well and truly mutilated, Gina put the knife down and sighed, "God. Poor Enzo."

"Yeah," sighed Roman.

"No wonder he doesn't sleep." She shook her head.

"Yeah," sighed Roman. He frowned, "Wait, what?"

Gina shrugged as she made to thrown out the ruined onions, "Well, you know he's not sleeping, right?"

Roman shook his head, "No, he is. He wasn't at first but… but he's fine now."

Gina looked at him with raised eyebrows, "Fine?" she scoffed, "You think he's fine? "

"Well, well yeah. He said so."

"And you believe him?" she shook her head in disappointment, "Roman, he's bullshitting the hell out of you. I woke up at five this morning and he was in the kitchen making his sixth batch of waffles, dressed in yesterday's clothes. His bed looked like it hadn't even been touched. He's got huge bags under his eyes… need I go on?"

Roman looked at her with wide eyes. How had he missed all of that?

"He said he was fine," he shook his head at himself.

"How long did it take you two to get over Seth?" sighed Gina. Roman just blinked at her, "Certainly more than three weeks," she shrugged.

Roman sat down with a heavy sigh. Gina rubbed his arm, "Listen, I know you're trying to help him, or whatever. You guys are great for doing that, but you gotta remember that Cass was his brother. His best friend. One does not simply get over one friend because he got new ones. Even great ones like you and Dean."

Roman sighed and then smiled at Gina gratefully. She nodded, "Now, go tell those kids to get out of the water already. Food's almost done."

:::

Roman tried to enjoy dinner like normal, but after everything Gina had said, he found it kinda hard. His eyes kept wandering to Enzo, wondering why he was so good at pretending to be okay. He was sitting next to Jojo, both of them talking a mile a minute, the conversation changing topics once every fifteen seconds. It looked like Jojo had finally found someone who could keep up with her energy, and the thought made Roman smile He couldn't help but think back to what she had said yesterday.

Is Enzo gonna leave like Seth did?

Roman had said that he hoped he didn't. And he had meant it. He and Dean had gotten so used to having Enzo around, which was weird considering he'd only been around for a few weeks. And then there was the issue of why he was around in the first place. Gina was right, having Dean and Roman with him wasn't going to cover up the fact that Cass had been his best friend and now he was gone. Roman knew that he and Dean weren't trying to replace Cassady, but now he found himself wondering if that's what Enzo was trying to do. Something told Roman that Enzo wasn't the type to do that, but still, what if he was?

Roman sighed inwardly, now wondering if that was such a bad thing. Maybe they could be Cassady replacements if it made Enzo feel better. But the dude wasn't sleeping, obviously it wasn't making him feel better at all.

Roman sighed again. He'd been sighing a lot, he noticed. This was stressing him out. A lot.

Fucking Cassady. Why the hell did he have to do that? Why the hell did he have to hurt Enzo like that? Roman glanced up at the little man again. This time he was letting Jojo sneak her carrots onto his plate, and distracting Gina so she wouldn't notice.

Roman sighed again. Why the hell would anyone want to hurt this guy?

After dinner, Dean was sent to the kitchen to do the dishes, much to Roman's smugness. And then Jojo called everyone to watch Frozen again, so Roman decided that he'd rather help Dean with the dishes.

They were busy loading the dishwasher and listening to Jojo and Enzo singing something about building snowmen. Badly.

"You know he ain't been sleeping," sighed Roman.

Dean stopped and looked up at him, "Enzo?"

Roman nodded, "Gina said he was up all night. Didn't even go to bed."

Dean stood up slowly, his shoulders slumping, "Damn."

"Yeah."

He sighed, "I guess we were dumb to think he's okay now, huh."

They sat at the kitchen table with their chins in their hands.

"You think he ever sleeps at all?" asked Dean.

Roman shrugged, "If he didn't, that would make sense. Maybe that's why he sleeps so much on the road, you know?"

Roman had been watching Enzo at dinner. He had noticed the bags under his eyes, and slapped himself for not seeing them sooner. He saw that his smiles didn't quite reach his eyes all the way. Now that he was properly looking, it was obvious that the man was not okay.

And how could he be? Gina had been right; it took a lot longer than three weeks to even think about getting over losing what Enzo had lost. And sure, he was mad. Of course he was mad. But that didn't mean he stopped caring.

Looking at Dean, Roman could tell that he was having the same thoughts.

"So what do we do?"

Dean sighed, "I thought I was supposed to ask you that."

Roman scoffed, "I don't know everything, Dean."

"Of course you do," Dean smiled fondly, "That's your thing. You always know."

Roman started to protest, but Dean stopped him.

"Do you remember how fucked up I was after Seth… you know, did what he did? You know I'd probably still be a mess if it weren't for you." He moved from his chair and went to stand behind Roman's. He wound his arms tightly around his shoulders, and Roman smiled gratefully, holding onto Dean's arms, "You're Superman, Roman. You save the day, that's what you do."

"You think way too much of me, you know that?"

Dean just smiled and kissed Roman on the corner of his mouth, "Actually, you don't think enough of yourself."

Roman turned his head to catch Dean's lips fully with his.

"Is this how washing the dishes happens nowadays?"

The two broke apart at Gina's voice from the kitchen door.

"We're taking a break," said Dean with a grin.

She just rolled her eyes with a smile, "I'm gonna call it a day. Make sure Jojo goes to bed straight after the movie? And I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but try and get Enzo to sleep, okay? He looks awful."

Dean and Roman promised they would, and Gina bid them goodnight before making her way up the stairs.

:::

As promised, Jojo went to bed straight after Frozen. Luckily, re-enacting the whole movie had tired her out, so it only took her a half hour to sleep. Once Roman had kissed her goodnight for the seventh time, he met Dean outside her room.

"So how do we get him to sleep?" asked Dean.

Roman shrugged, "We could watch a really boring move. Like, I don't know, Twilight?"

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, but you know Enzo's a freak. He probably likes Twilight."

They went downstairs discussing the best ways to induce drowsiness, but when they got to the living room, they found Enzo slumped on the couch, remote still in hand, and snoring softly.

"Well that was easy," grinned Dean.

Roman also sighed in relief. But he was still worried. They hadn't been upstairs for that long. He must've been really exhausted to fall asleep that fast. Roman grabbed one of the blankets in the downstairs cupboard and draped it softly over Enzo, careful not to wake him.

Dean and Roman sat on another couch, turning the TV to the lowest volume.

They were only halfway through their first episode of 'Game of Thrones' when Dean got bored of watching.

"Do you think Kurt will let me use a Kendo stick during my match on Monday?"

Roman snorted, "'Course not."

"You think I should use it anyway?"

"Will you listen to me if I tell you not to?"

Dean thought for a while, "Probably not."

Roman sighed with a smile, "Then go right ahead."

Dean grinned, lying down across Roman's lap, "You think bringing out the baseball bat will be pushing it?"

"Definitely," said Roman.

"What if I do it backstage?"

Roman couldn't help but smirk, "Beating up Cassandra backstage with a baseball bat? That sounds fun."

Dean chuckled softly. He opened his mouth, but before a word could come out, their eyes snapped to the couch when Enzo woke with a gasp, sitting up in shock.

His head snapped around, his big eyes wide as if trying to figure out where he was. When his eyes finally landed on Dean and Roman, his heavy breathing started to slow, and he blinked rapidly.

"Oh." He said breathily, "H-hi. Sorry I-" he cleared his throat, "Sorry."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other and then looked back at Enzo.

The man in question forced a smile onto his face as he cleared his throat again, his eyes still impossibly wide, "So, what are we watching?"

He tried to blink the sleep from his eyes as he stared at the TV, "Ha, I love this thing. That Cersei's a bitch."

His eyes stayed glued to the TV, and Roman and Dean's eyes stayed glued to him. When Enzo saw that they were looking at him, he gulped, "What?"

Dean tilted his head, "So, are we gonna ignore the fact that you just woke up from a nightmare?"

"Nightmare?" scoffed Enzo, "I wasn't having a nightmare." He was lying, obviously. And he knew that they knew that he was lying, but still. It was worth a shot.

"Enzo," started Roman.

"I'm fine." He said, he stood up abruptly, "Really, I am." Enzo rushed out oof the room, almost as if he was rrunning away. Roman and Dean glanced at each other before following. They found him in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of water.

When he saw them, he forced a tight smile, "Is, uh, is Jojo asleep?"

"Enzo" said Roman again.

Enzo just shook his head, "Let's not make this a big deal. Please. I mean, everybody has a bad dream once in a while."

"Yours aren't just once in a while though, are they," said Roman softly. Enzo opened his mouth, his first instinct was to lie, but the words 'I'm fine' didn't seem to want to come out. Not this time.

"Is that why you haven't been sleeping?" asked Dean.

Enzo bit the inside of his cheek, "I sleep," he said quietly. The looks on their faces made him sigh, "Sometimes."

Roman shook his head, "Enzo, you know you don't have to do that." He said, "Not with us."

"Yeah man." Agreed Dean, "Stop pretending you're okay."

"I'm not pretending," said Enzo. He stopped them when they looked like they were about to protest, "I'm not. Honestly." He sighed, leaning back on the couch, "Yeah, I'm not sleeping too good. But I never really did, you know. Sure it's gotten a little worse since… since Cass… you know." He cleared his throat, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, "But like, I really am fine. Trust me, I've been through this enough to know how to get over it. Cass ain't the first person to throw me out like a stray dog, alright? I know how to get through this, I'm fine."

"Enzo-"

"Guys really, I'm good. You don't gotta-"

"We're here to talk. You know you can-"

"I'm fine."

"But Enzo-"

"I said I'm fine!" he snapped.

His outburst seemed to surprise him more than it did the others, but once he started, he found himself unable to stop, "I'm fine! So please stop doing that! Stop being so damn nice! Stop trying to help me, alright? Please! I know what this is, okay? And I know how it ends. You might not see it this way right now because you're so damn nice, but trust me, I know how this goes."

Roman shook his head, walking further into the kitchen, "Enzo we aren't like Cass. We aren't."

"You are! Don't you get it? Cass was my best friend. My only friend. For 5 damn years that man was all I had and then he decided that he'd had enough. I'm sorry, but I am so fucking tired of having friends who are just gonna decide that they've had enough eventually. Trust me, you're gonna decide too sooner or later. It always happens."

"Okay, stop that." Said Dean firmly, "We ain'tlike Cass. Do you have any idea how great it's been having you around Enzo? We-"

"Of course it's been great!" Enzo exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "I'm great to be around! Always making jokes and and making everyone laugh and being good old funny Enzo Amore. That's what I am. That's all I am, and ya'll, like everybody else, are gonna realise that sooner or later. So please, just make it sooner, because I'm tired." his shoulders slumped and his head fell into his hands as he leaned against the kitchen sink, "I'm so fucking tired of being thrown away."

Enzo kept his head down when he was finished. He planned on staying that way until they left. He was tired of letting these guys see him cry all the time.

He didn't know why he'd said all that. He hadn't meant to. He really hadn't. Especially not to these guys. He was supposed to keep all of that bottled up, like he always did. Not to blurt it all out like he just did. Now he knew that however pathetic they already thought he was, it was doubled by now.

And he really had been enjoying his time with them. The huge pain in his chest that hadn't gone away since that night always felt just a little bit better when he was with them. He'd hoped to keep this feeling for as long as possible. At least as long as they decided to keep him around.

Well, it looked like he'd fucked this up as well.

Enzo squeezed his eyes shut as the tears forced their way out of his eyes.

He was really fucking tired of fucking crying.

The silence had been going on for far too long. Enzo hoped that that meant that they were gone.

No such luck.

"Enzo," he heard Roman's voice, a lot closer to him now.

Enzo shook his head, still not looking up.

"Could... could ya just go? I'll be fine."

There was a silence after that, and some shuffling feet. For a moment, Enzo thought that they left, and then all of a sudden, a pair of arms wound around him. He could tell it was Roman by the hair tickling his face.

Enzo tried to stand his ground. He tried to keep his cool and he tried to stay strong, he really, really did. But it didn't take long for him to let go. His body all but collapsed into Roman's chest. His shoulders shook, no matter how hard he tried to stop them. The tears he'd already been failing to keep at bay just came flooding out, and Roman's arms only tightened around him.

"We know you'll be fine," said Dean quietly, also sounding a lot closer, "but, you're not gonna have to do it alone this time."

"We're not just gonna ditch you Enzo." said Roman, "You're stuck with us, actually. Until you decide you don't wanna be. Which you can't, because now you've met Jojo and, well, who doesn't wanna be stuck with Jojo?"

Enzo couldn't help the chuckle that escaped amongst the silent sobs. The silence that followed lacked the tension the others had. This one didn't leave Enzo wondering if he was going to end up by himself again.

"You know Enzo." said Dean quietly, laying a hand on his shoulder, "It's true that you're ffunto have around. You're weird. And crazy and kooky and real funny, and a basic nut job. That's why everyone likes you so much. But that's not all you are. You're worth a whole lot more than you think, Enzo. And if Cass, or anyone else doesn't see that, then it's their problem. And their loss."

Enzo closed his eyes against Roman's chest.

It scared him when they said stuff like this. It scared him because no matter what they said, a huge part of him would always agree with what everyone else said about him. A huge part of him would always agree with what Cass said about him.

But what scared Enzo the most was the other part of him. The tiny, tiny part that believed Dean and Roman. And that tiny part was getting bigger the more he was with them. Dean and Roman were making him believe them.

"Thank you." he whispered. He wasn't sure if they could hear him or not, but he had to say it anyway.

"Thank you."

:::

Quick A.N: Hello everyone. Me again. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry it took me a while to get it out, life has been holding me up. Anyway, tell me what you think please, your feedback makes my day.

You know, if the feedback is good.

But criticism also helps. Even though it makes me sad...

Oky bye bye

-Leeh