Dean sat in the hotel bar waiting for Roman to show up. He had walked straight to the bar the second they came back from the photo shoot and called Roman right away and asked him to meet him down there. He had to tell him, no matter how hard it was or how much the truth would hurt his friend, he just had to tell him. Roman deserved to know. Raina deserved that he knew. They were both losers in this.
"Whiskey? What's so bad that we need whiskey this early?" Roman asked as he stood in front of the table.
"Please, sit down," Dean said while clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable about the whole situation.
Roman's smile faded and he sat down. He knew Dean too well and he knew something was wrong when he had that look on his face and found it hard to find any words to say. It was Dean of all people. The man that never seemed to run out of words and could cut a promo on the spot without any keywords and here he was struggling to find the words to say. Something was very wrong.
"Dean, you're kind of freaking me out," Roman said.
"You're not gonna like it," Dean finally said.
"Just tell me," Roman said.
"You gotta promise me that you won't run off and do anything stupid. I know you're gonna be upset, hurt and angry and you are gonna want to kill someone. Hell, I can't blame you. I know I would react that way. But you gotta promise. It's not worth losing your job over," Dean said.
"Okay, now you're scaring me. What is it?" Roman said.
"Just promise!" Dean hissed through his teeth.
"Alright, I promise. What is it?" Roman asked, trying to hide the fear in his voice but he wasn't successful.
"Shit, Roman, it's bad. It's really bad," Dean said.
After Raina had spilled the truth to Renee that morning, Renee had managed to calm her down and get her back to her hotel room. She hadn't gone back to sleep. She had just been on the bed, watching tv - or pretending to watch it. She had no idea what had actually been shown on the screen the past couple of hours. It wasn't until her stomach started rumbling that she realized she probably needed to get some food. All she had had since she woke up was the cup of coffee Renee had handed to her. Dean's coffee. She felt kind of bad about that even though it was just coffee.
She grabbed her wallet and the key card and put both items in her back pockets before leaving the room. She walked towards the elevator and waited for it to arrive. It didn't scare her any longer. She didn't feel the need to keep walking anymore. The nightmare was long gone. Now only the sad memory remained. The stain that she would never be able to get rid off.
The second the elevator door opened on the main floor, she heard high voices arguing. She knew who it was right away even though she hadn't stepped out of the elevator yet to see them. Roman and Dean.
"Let me go!" Roman shouted.
"No! You promised! You can't go after him now! You'll lose your job!" Dean shouted back.
"I don't care! He deserves to die!" Roman shouted.
She stepped out of the elevator and looked confused at the two men standing there. Dean had Roman's arms locked behind his back as he tried to hold the big man back and Roman had a furious look on his face. They both stopped as they saw her. Roman's facial expression changed from furious to sad. Dean immetiately let go off his arms and before she knew it, Roman was right in front of her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back into the elevator. He pushed her up against the wall next to the buttons. Before she could react, the door closed again and he hit the button for his floor.
He kept standing there, holding her up against the wall. Not like he was forcing her to stay there. More like he was trying to shield her from everything else around them.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he kept chanting down in her hair.
And then it clicked. He knew. Of course he knew. She had told Renee this morning. Of course she had told Dean. It was only natural to share everything in a close relationship. And of course Dean had told his best friend. He knew. He fucking knew and it hurt. She had never wanted him to find out. She had never wanted to get in between him and any of his friends.
She stood there and felt herself start to shiver. She tried holding the tears within but she couldn't. She grabbed his shirt, wrinkled it in her hands as she held on tight to it and cried into his chest.
She heard the door to the elevator open but she didn't move away from him. She felt him lift her up. She kept her head down on his shoulder, still crying, her arms now wrapped around his neck as he carried her to his room. He didn't say anything. He just held her up and allowed her to cry. She heard a door open and close and she knew she was in his room. He walked towards the bed and sat down with her now straddling his lap. She still had her head down on his shoulder, hidden in his hair, and her arms tightly wrapped around his neck. Now that she had finally a hold on him again after this long, she refused to let go.
"It's alright. I'm here, queen," he said softly.
The hair on her arms stood up when she heard his old nickname for her again. A simple word, yet a word she had longed to hear again for so long.
"I'm still here," he reassured her.
There was a soft knock on Roman's door a couple of hours later. He went to open and put his finger on his lips as Dean entered. He nodded towards the bed where Raina was sleeping. Dean nodded and put on a little smile. They put their heads together so they could whisper.
"How is she?" Dean asked.
"I'm not sure. She cried a lot but she told me everything although she couldn't look at me while doing it. She just sat in my lap and hid her head on my shoulder while getting it all out," Roman answered.
"And how are you?" Dean asked.
"Sad, angry, upset, frustrated. Take your pick," Roman answered.
Dean nodded again and looked back at Raina. He felt a pain inside. Raina was his friend too. Seth hadn't just hurt her. With what he had done, he had made a lot of people suffer. Raina, Roman, Renee and himself. There would be payback for this.
"Look, I got an idea. Renee doesn't like it but she said she would support me if we do it," Dean said.
Roman looked at him, just waiting for him to continue.
"I know you're not gonna turn your back and pretend like nothing happened. I wouldn't either. And you should know that I've come very close to stand where you're standing. He... ehm... he almost did the same to Renee three months ago," Dean said.
"What?" Roman asked.
"I'll explain later. What matters now is you and what I know you're planning to do. Don't do it. I got a better idea. You wanna put your job on the line for her, fine, but you're not alone. We're gonna work together on this one. We're gonna sneak up on him and he'll never know what hit him," Dean said.
Roman looked back at Raina. She looked so peaceful sleeping there. Too many nights he had missed her in his bed. Now she was finally there again and he refused to ever let her out of his bed again. When she would wake up later, he would be there next to her to hold her tight and kiss her and tell her that she was never allowed to leave his sight again.
"What do you have in mind?" He asked.
