Sooo, I somehow was able to write another chapter for you. I guess this is only fair as I won't be able to write again until Tuesday next week.

I have to say that the current chapters are difficult and exhausting to write. I hope all of this makes sense to you as I need to keep thousands of things in mind in order not to mix things up :D

ShannonTheAwesomeOne, here is what came out after our brainstorming session yesterday. And once again, there are some of your amazing lines in there.

22 reviews so far for the latest chapter. I guess this is another record. Thanks so much :)

Enjoy & review, my lovely friends!

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Chapter 9: Things are so complicated

"Hey baby, who have you been talking to?" Karo asked curiously as she entered the living room, drying her hair with a towel while Roman pushed his cell phone back into his pocket.

"Seth," he simply said, running a hand over his face before sighing heavily, knowing she would be surprised and maybe even concerned about this.

"Seth?" she asked appalled, her eyes wide in shock. Why would Roman deliberately talk to Seth? Something must be terribly wrong.

"Yeah. But no worries. We didn't fight," he quickly said before smiling at her warmly. "Come here for a minute please. I need to talk to you."

Roman extended his hand to her and made her sit on his right leg, her arm around his shoulder now while she waited for him to talk.

"Is everything alright?" she asked when he didn't start to speak right away.

She cupped his cheek with her free hand, caressing it before tracing his bottom lip with her index finger. Oh, how she loved his lips. They were full and plump and she just loved kissing them.

"I'm not really sure to be honest," he said, swallowing hard before continuing. "Shannon called a few minutes ago. She actually wanted to talk to you."

"So?" she asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at him when the look in his eyes reflected worry and sadness.

"She told me she's pregnant," he breathed in sharply, licking his suddenly dry lips nervously.

"She what? Oh my God. She's having a baby? That's just….ahhh….this is great," Karo yelped, clapping her hands excitedly as if she had just been given the greatest news of all time.

"It's great, indeed. But listen babygirl," he started before taking her hands into his, squeezing them gently before continuing. "Dean left her."

The smile on Karo's face immediately vanished. She finally understood why Roman seemed to be so saddened and desperate when he told her about the news. Her best friend was pregnant, but her boyfriend decided to leave her alone.

"Dean left her?" she asked dumbfounded, looking deep into his eyes when he slowly nodded his head. "But why would he do that?"

Roman wished he could give her a reasonable explanation for this whole mess but the facts he had been given by Shannon were everything but reasonable. So he just had to be honest with her.

"He's blaming her for all of this. Accusing her of planning to pin a child on him, even denying the baby and saying she had cheated on him," he stated, seeing how Karo pressed her lips together in a thin line.

"That no good son of a bitch," she said through gritted teeth, not believing what she had just been told. "Who the hell does he think he is? I'm gonna kick his ass. I'll cut off his balls so that he'll never be able to use his dick again and then I'll…"

"Whoa whoa whoa, stop it, babygirl. Calm down," Roman tried to reason, concerned when he saw how anger was written all over her face.

"Calm down? Are you kidding me? That asshole decided to leave my best friend while she's pregnant with HIS baby. And you tell me to calm down? I'm gonna kill him," she exploded, suddenly jumping up and running back in forth in the living room.

"Sweetie, I mean it. Calm down. I understand that you're angry as fuck. But that doesn't change anything," he admonished, stopping her by placing his hands on her hips. "Remember that we promised each other not to stress you or the baby out again? Karolina, I don't wanna risk anything. Please keep that in mind."

She closed her eyes tightly, nodding her head in understanding. She knew he was right but it was very difficult to keep calm when something like that was happening. She felt horrible for Shannon. She must feel so heartbroken and alone.

"I'm so mad at him," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around his midsection before placing her head on his chest. "Somebody needs to talk some sense into him."

Roman let his hands run up and down her back, soothing her as much as he could. He knew that deep down she was furious. She was full of adrenaline and it took her a lot of control to keep her anger in check. But he was happy that she at least tried.

"That's why I called Seth. Maybe he's able to open Dean's eyes. I don't even have to try calling him. He definitely won't pick up. But Seth's right there. I'm sure he'll find him in some bar," Roman explained, kissing the top of her head and rocking her back and forth.

They stood there for what felt like an eternity but they didn't want to let go of each other. In this very moment they once again realized just how lucky they were. Lucky for being so in love with each other, for having the same goals and dreams. Shannon wasn't so lucky and that broke Karo's heart into a million pieces.

"I told Shannon to come here. I don't want her to be alone," he said before gently letting go of her, taking a step back so that he could look into her eyes. "Just imagine this: You guys can be pregnant together, how does that sound? You can go shopping for baby clothes together and then you can help Shannon on how to baby proof her apartment and hey, you can both hold each other's hair while throwing up in the mornings. Isn't this just awesome?"

He yelped when she slapped his arm with all her power, but smiled at her when she suddenly started to giggle. He loved to see her like that; a happy expression on her face was what made her even more beautiful. He knew that she was still angry with Dean, very much so. But after what happened during their first pregnancy, she was now responsible enough to not let her anger get to her.

"Don't even think about shifting this task to her. You're quite good at holding my hair while I throw up my insides because of YOUR baby," she teased, placing a sweet kiss on his lips while he chuckled.

"Alright boss," he said and saluted her which made her laugh. "But now I have to book a flight for her. So if you'll excuse me..."

He took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it, looking deep into her eyes before winking at her. God, how he loved that woman.

*When you're not at the clubs, stick with Shannon. I don't want her doing something drastic.*

This was the first text message Seth had gotten from Roman in over two years which he didn't immediately delete. Normally his messages were irrelevant or even full of hatred, but this one had a lot of meaning.

He was happy that they were both finally able to talk to each other in a civil manner again. The sad thing was that it only happened because of Shannon's fucked up situation.

But he didn't want to think about this that much. Roman was right and he had to make sure that Shannon was safe.

He didn't even call her beforehand. He knew she probably wouldn't want to talk to him anyways. Therefore he simply made his way over to her apartment and was there in a matter of just fifteen minutes. He knocked on her front door, his heart breaking when he could hear that on the other side of the door she was sobbing uncontrollably.

She opened the door just a crack, afraid that it would be Dean who wasn't done accusing her of things. She wouldn't be able to handle this now. Not only did she have to get over the fact that he had left her, no, she also had to fathom that she was pregnant. She was having a baby and she didn't even have the chance to process that herself.

"Open the door, sweetheart. It's just me," Seth said calmly, trying to look into her eyes but she immediately looked down at her feet, hiding them from him.

She slowly opened the door for him to enter, not saying another word and just watching as he made his way into the living room. He was shocked by the sight in front of him. Food was lying on the floor and sticking on the wall, pieces of porcelain shattered all over the ground while the living room table was covered with used tissues.

"I'm sorry. Lemme just…," she started but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"No need to clean up. It's fine," he said, giving her a reassuring smile.

He had seen this before. In his own apartment. But instead of food lying everywhere, he had bottles of beer and vodka all distributed over the living room. He was relieved to see that this wasn't the case here.

"Who told you?" Shannon asked, not needing to mention what exactly she was talking about because she could tell both she and Seth knew.

"Roman called me," he simply said, shrugging his shoulders and taking her hand into his, softly dragging her to the couch so that they could both sit next to each other.

"You have no idea how sorry I am for what Dean's doing to you. I knew he could be an asshole but even I didn't know he was able to be such a dick," Seth said apologetically, feeling horrible that his friend was doing this to her.

She needed all the love and support now, no hate or even stupid accusations.

"It isn't your fault. Don't apologize for him. It is not your place to do so," she said, another tear streaming down her face.

"I honestly feel like it is. You will never know just how mad I am at him. He deserves a good ass-kicking. And he'll get one, trust me," he promised, her hand still in his, squeezing hers gently.

He looked at her intently, the tears not stopping while her whole body was shaking with sobs. He wished there was anything he could do for her but there was nothing else other than comforting her with his words.

"I'm so afraid, Seth. I can't do this on my own. I need him. My baby needs a father. How am I supposed to do this?" she asked, not even sure if those questions were directed at Seth rather than at herself.

"If Dean doesn't pull his head out of his ass, I'll be here for you and that baby. I promise that," he says before putting his hand on her stomach gently. "Every child deserves to have a daddy."

That was all Shannon needed to hear to once again break down crying. She had no idea if her hormones were to blame already, but Seth's words touched her deeply. He was definitely a guy to fall in love with.

"Shh, don't cry, sweetheart. It's all good. You're not alone. You'll never be alone," he said, his voice almost a whisper.

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, his heart feeling heavy in his chest when he felt how her whole body was quivering.

She didn't deserve to be treated like that. She deserved somebody who loved her unconditionally and with all his heart. But yet again here she was, an expectant mother all by herself while her useless boyfriend 'escaped' the madness he had left behind.

He just held her in his arms and let her cry. She needed to let it all out. It didn't make sense to fight the tears. She probably hadn't cried in months. Dean had never been the kind of guy who knew how to handle a crying woman, which only told him that Shannon probably had always tried to be strong in front of him. It wasn't fair.

After endless minutes, her sobs finally quieted down. Her tears had wetted his grey shirt thoroughly but he didn't mind. It felt good knowing that he could at least be there for her when there was nothing else he could do otherwise.

"Feeling any better?" he asked, gently letting go of her to look into her eyes. They were bloodshot and puffy.

"Not really. But there are no more tears left to cry at the moment. Thanks Seth," she mumbled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and grabbing another tissue, blowing her nose.

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes. Seth had no idea what else to say. He wasn't sure if she was done talking about Dean. Or if there was anything else she wanted to talk about. He decided he would let her decide the next move. She was the one who was hurt and he would do whatever she needed from him.

"How are you doing, Seth?" she finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them.

He looked at her with a confused look on his face. Did she just ask him how he was doing after she had just been left by the father of her unborn baby? Shannon really was one of a kind.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking at her expectantly before he continued. "This isn't about me, sunshine. This is about you."

She took his hand into hers and looked deep into his eyes, confusion and even insecurity reflecting in them.

"It's been about you for quite some time now but we've all been so busy with ourselves that we left you outside alone. And that's not fair. And trust me, I'd rather listen to you than listen to the stories of my own pathetic life right now," she insisted, running her thumb over the back of his hand gently.

He just looked at her puzzled, completely at a loss of words. He didn't know what she expected him to say now. What was she referring to?

"Sleeping with ring rats. That's not who you are," she started but quickly stopped when she saw the annoyance on his face.

"Really? Do we have to discuss this now? I'd rather not talk about it. It doesn't mean anything," he immediately defended himself, remembering he had a similar conversation with Roman not too long ago. And they all knew how this night had ended.

"Listen Seth. I know there's a lot you need to get off of your chest. You're here for me and I wanna be here for you. I won't judge, I won't tell you what to do. I just offer for you to tell me what's on your mind. Nobody ever asked why you are acting the way you are. I just wanna know why and try to help you with whatever is heavy on your heart," she stated, looking at him with a weak smile on her face.

Maybe she really just wanted to distract herself from the situation at hand. She would have enough time to worry about Dean and that he had left her alone with their baby. She didn't want to think about it 24/7. And she was sure Seth also needed a friend he could talk to.

"I don't know, Shannon. It's just that I…damn…I don't even know myself," he mumbled, sighing heavily before resting his back against the backrest of the couch.

"Do you still love her?" she asked directly, looking at him intently while she was waiting for his reaction.

He immediately broke the eye-contact, not being able to look into her eyes. He knew that to his friends he was an open book. And he wasn't sure he wanted Shannon to see what he was feeling deep inside.

"I'm not sure honestly. I mean, it's been two years already. I miss her terribly but there are no more butterflies in my stomach whenever I see her. I think I've accepted that she's with Roman and I don't really have the feeling of wanting to sleep with her anymore. This sounds so weird, doesn't it?" he asked, more himself than her.

But it was the truth. He missed her. But he was sure he just missed her as a friend. He admitted he would give anything to have just one more of her kisses, but deep down he knew that he didn't have a chance. And he never would. He just wanted his friend back.

"Why all these women who looked like her?" she questioned, knowing that this question would take him aback but she wanted to know.

"Coincidence?" he more asked than stated.

He looked at Shannon unsure when she chuckled. What was so funny about that?

"We both know this wasn't coincidence," she said firmly before continuing. "Listen Seth, you need to let go of her. I'm sure you don't love her anymore. You just love the idea of loving her. You're so used of trying to win her that you made it a bad habit to act the way you do. Stop banging cheap ring rats. Stop thinking about the past."

Seth took a deep breath, trying to process what she had just told him. And it all made sense. He had been so unsure of his feelings for months now. He thought he still loved her but maybe Shannon was right. Maybe he just loved the idea of loving her although he was over her already.

"It just felt good to get the satisfaction while it lasted. I felt horrible the moment I kicked those skanks out of my hotel room," he admitted truthfully, once again realizing what an asshole he had become.

"You deserve better than this," she said, once again squeezing his hand gently.

"I'm not sure if I even deserve to be loved. I've fucked up big time. Over and over again," he grumbled, letting go of her hand and rubbing his eyes.

He didn't want to cry. Not in front of her. He needed to be strong for her and not the other way round. It wasn't fair to cry his heart out when it was clearly her who needed the support and comfort now.

She inconspicuously moved closer to him, wrapping one arm around his shoulder and closing the distance between them. She pulled him close to her body, letting him feel that he could trust her with whatever he had on his mind.

But there was nothing else left to say. All he needed to do was to let loose. And he did. He cried. All these tears he had fought for endless months or even years were finally escaping his eyes. He had tried to be strong. He had wanted to forget about all the pain and he was sure that just having fun with random chicks was what he needed. But that wasn't who he was. Seth Rollins was a sensitive guy. All he needed was love and the feeling of being safe with someone.

"It's okay. Let it all out," she whispered into his ear while he rested his face in the crook of her neck.

She couldn't help but cry with him. She cried with him because she was both sad for him and herself. She felt sorry for having treated him like that in the last two years. She had always tried to bring him back into their clique but things had been difficult. And she felt bad for not once asking him what he felt deep inside. Then again she also cried because of Dean. The man she loved with all her heart, the man who was the father of her unborn child.

They both sat there crying in each other's arms, caressing one another to calm down and let the other one know they weren't alone.

"One day I'm going to find a person that loves me, right?" he asked after endless minutes, gently breaking the hug and looking at her with puffy eyes.

"Of course you will. There are millions of women out there that would be lucky to call you their boyfriend. Just let it happen," she said quietly, smiling at him weakly while caressing his cheek softly.

"Thanks Shannon. Thank you for everything," he whispered, once again moving closer to her and kissing her cheek quickly.

"No, thank YOU," she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

She was happy to have him in her life. And she hoped that one day he would finally find that woman that would capture his heart and soul. He deserved it.

About an hour later, Seth, Antonio, CM Punk, Jimmy, Jey and Zack made their way into the Waikiki's, a hip bar in downtown San Francisco which was said to have the best beer in town. Seth had convinced his buddies to go there although they had planned to go to another club at the other end of the city, but Seth was sure that he would find Dean wherever the beer was tasty.

And so it was. Just after a few more minutes, Seth found Dean, sitting at the bar counter, a beer in one hand while the other was placed on another woman's ass. What made things even worse was that Dean was making out with her. It shuddered him when he saw their tongue action from what felt like miles away.

He had to stop that. He was disgusted by the sight in front of him and he knew where this would lead to and this definitely couldn't happen. Not tonight, not ever.

"Dean, what the fuck man? What are you doing? Shannon sits at home, crying her eyes out and you make out with some slut? Dude, that woman loves you with all her heart and you think she's pinning a fucking baby on you? You've been together for two and a half years. Did you really just fucking leave her? You told her to abort your child!? YOU TOLD HER TO KILL YOUR BABY!? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Seth yelled, not caring if people were watching them. Dean definitely needed to get that lecture.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do, Seth? I don't want kids. This bitch told me that the chances of her having a kid were one in a billion 'cause her fucking insides were screwed up. And what the hell happens? She gets fucking pregnant? She's doing this to make sure I never leave. That's what I told her 'cause it's the fucking truth," he slurred, ordering another shot by waving at the bartender.

"She's not purposely pregnant, you idiot. Who the hell would do that? She's not some scummy ring rat who you've been with for a month. She's your girlfriend of more than two years. You love her, goddammit. If she wanted a happy-go-lucky relationship that was perfect all the time that turned into marriage and kids, she could have chosen that pansy Gavin. But for whatever reason she chose you, Dean. There's a difference between forcing you to take her out to dinner and forcing a baby into your arms, you know?" Seth kept going, not letting Dean get away with his bullshit excuses.

"Deanie, what's this guy talking about? You have a girlfriend?" his prey of the night, Amanda, asked him.

She was the epitome of a ring rat: short skirt, knee-length high heeled boots, a belly top that revealed more cleavage than necessary and a whole lot of make up on her face.

"Nah, I don't. Don't worry about it, babe," he said, smirking at her mischievously before pressing his lips onto hers again, quickly pushing his tongue into her mouth only to fight with hers for dominance.

"Dean, what the hell?" Seth asked perplexed, shaking Dean's shoulder to get his attention back.

"Fuck off, man. I'm busy. Just leave me the hell alone, ok? I'm done talking about this," he spat, giving Seth a death glare before turning back towards Amanda, claiming her mouth for another passionate kiss.

Seth couldn't believe this was happening. What was he supposed to do now? Dean wouldn't listen to him and he sure as hell wouldn't let him stop him from making a mistake. He took a deep breath, watching as his friend practically ravished this slut in front of everyone to see, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He decided to send Roman a text message, asking him for his advice. Although Roman could be quite childish as well, he was the one of them to act the most mature at times.

*Hey bro. Found Dean. He's in a bar with us, getting totally shitfaced. He's not listening to me. He's making out with some chick and I don't know what to do. Any ideas? Seth*

He quickly sent the message, hoping for Roman to answer as fast as possible. He knew how Dean was. He would drag that girl into the bathroom and fuck her against a wall. It wouldn't be the first time that something like that happened.

*Just make sure he doesn't leave with that chick. We both know he'll regret fucking her, so try everything you can to stop him. Call me if you need my help. Roman*

Just a few seconds after reading that message, Seth caught a glimpse of Dean and wasn't even surprised to see that he and this Amanda girl were making their way out of the door. He couldn't let that happen. He would not only feel responsible for this himself, no, he was sure that Roman would kick his ass as well. And he was sick of fighting with him, that was for sure.

"Where do you think you're going?" Seth panted after catching up with them, standing in front of them now and blocking their way.

"Haven't I already told you to fucking leave me alone?" Dean babbled, trying to push Seth away but he wouldn't back down.

"Dean, you're making a huge mistake," Seth tried to reason, trying to look into his friend's eyes but it seemed he couldn't even look straight anymore.

"Mind your own business, little puppy," Amanda said, throwing her hair over her shoulder and huffing at him.

"How about you shut your dirty mouth, you fucking bitch?" he bellowed at her, having none of her shit.

He knew how these ring rats were rolling. He had been fucking a whole lot of them for quite some months now and he honestly had to admit that he started getting disgusted by them. They didn't care if you were in a relationship or if you were even married. Kids? So what?

"Don't talk to her like that or..." Dean began to say but he couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Or what? You wanna fight me? It's this whatcha wanna do right now? Bring it on Ambrose, come on," he urged him, slightly shoving him to get under his skin.

He could see that Dean clearly wasn't in a position to win a fight right now. It wasn't as if Seth wanted to beat down his friend in front of anyone else. Although he probably deserved it.

"Listen to me now and listen closely: fuck off, bitch," Seth said, glaring at Amanda intently, letting her know that he was dead serious about this.

And it seemed as if she understood which quite frankly surprised him. She wasn't as stupid as she looked like.

He watched Dean as his gaze followed her, his eyes fixed on her ass while he was licking his lips in anticipation.

"Listen dude, I was at your girl's place earlier and she cried her heart out. She loves you man and..." Seth suddenly broke the silence, starting his little speech but was immediately cut off by his drunken friend.

"What? Wait a minute. You've been with my girl? What the hell? You're trying to put the moves on my pregnant girlfriend now?" he roared, grabbing his friend by the collar of his shirt but he was too drunk to have much power over him, almost falling backwards as the world started spinning around him.

"Shut up, Dean. You know I wouldn't do something like that anymore. Been there, done that. Cut that shit now," he yelled back, supporting his friend by holding his arm and dragging him to a taxi that was waiting just a few feet away from them.

"Leave me the fuck alone. I'm gonna bang Emily now," he barked, trying to get out of Seth's grip but he couldn't.

"Her name is Amanda and you're not gonna bang anyone," he insisted, grateful that they finally reached the taxi.

He opened the door and pushed Dean inside, ignoring his bitchy attitude and quickly telling the driver where to go.

Now this was going to be a night full of fun. He was sure they wouldn't get a lot of sleep, that was for sure.