Lots of nice guesses going on here people, so now time for you guys to see if you were right as we welcome our mystery guest for this chapter, read on lovely viewers!

xXBalorBabeXx, Haha, well, that's a lot of guesses there, but the good news is that one of them is totally right...but as usual because I'm super cruel, I'm not going to tell you and you're going to have to read it through and find out. I think/hope you'll like it though!

Labinnacslove, Yay, glad you liked the last chapter. It was totally one of my favourites too because...well, because and I'll leave it at that! Got some good news for you too about this chapter because your favourite funny character in this series is back! As usual, she's a whirlwind!

Moxley Gal1, Nice guesses but I think I might have outfoxed you on this one! Hopefully you'll like who it is that turns up though. I thought it was about time we saw them again and also they help to move this tale along a bit. Still in the dark? Gotta read to find out!

Mandy, That is a good suggestion but I've actually taken this story in another direction, which you're going to see in the very next chapter but it's going to create a whole lot of drama too. Am I being mean in leading you on? Yeah maybe, but it's good to keep you guessing right?!

Wolfgirl2013, Sweet guess but I'm not going quite that dramatic for this one, although there is still lots of drama to come. Instead I'm going to be nice to Lauren in this one and give her something that I think she deserves. Plus she's going to have a brainwave in this too. A big, big brainwave!

Minnie1015, I love writing sexy time and especially when it's Dean just being about the best boyfriend ever because who wouldn't want to write about that?! Glad you're happy I'm posting both together, it's mostly so I don't get confused, but the best of both worlds is always good!

Skovko, Well I certainly try! I like to use all the colors on the palette...or maybe it's that I'm really bad at writing really serious raunchy stuff so I have to throw some comedy in. Plus sweet Dean is a must because...well, it's a must I tell you! There can never be enough sweet Dean in the world!

Mystery guest time...


Homebound

"Princess, you're stayin' here an' that's all there is to it."

Dean was striding around the room as he spoke, throwing the last few pieces of his clothing into the bag lying open on our bed. Boomer was sprawled out close alongside it and with a doleful little look on his big furry face, since he knew that the case meant his master was leaving and, like me, it bummed him out. He extracted a pair of socks to showcase his misery and I plucked them from his mouth and put them back in, running my fingers in a scratch beneath his ear fold that made him grunt and twist his head.

"But, I – I'm feeling much better now, it was nearly six days ago."

"Lauren, you got knocked out, you're gonna be feelin' it for at least another week yet."

"I'll take it easy, I promise, I just want to come."

From where he was trying to find his little travel toothbrush in the haphazard way that men seemed to like to search, blue eyes lifted up then flickered over briefly like he was maybe debating his super tough stance. He had been clear from the moment we had left Indianapolis that he felt I would be safer at home for a while and although I had assumed that was just heat-of-the-moment thinking, since then he hadn't let up his position on it once. I on the other hand was less convinced by it, because as always I wanted to stay with him, besides which it was my job. I worked in the industry just the same as he did and without it I had nothing on which to hang my hat.

He huffed a sigh out,

"Princess, I can't do it, I can't let you back there until I know it's fuckin' safe, which it's not gonna be 'til I bury that asshole and make sure the whole world knows you're off limits, okay?"

"But how long will that take?"

It was a relevant enough question since he seemed to be gunning for the entire corporate team and they would by no means go down without swinging, besides which they outnumbered my angry boyfriend five to one. Relatively speaking I couldn't fault his instincts and had no real problem with him taking them all down, but if that took months or years then what did I do?

I couldn't just sit at home waiting.

I would go insane.

Dean seemed to know it as well, or at least clue into it, because he crossed the room and came to a standstill in front of me, cupping my downturned face with his rough palms and then tilting it upwards so that he could show me some love.

His lips ghosted my forehead,

"I'll get 'em for you baby."

"I know you will, but what am I meant to do until then?"

My fingers slid through the belt loops on his jean fronts and then hung there like I could maybe persuade him to stay, or else take me with him as some fashion accessory, which was probably a long shot. Dean blew out another sigh,

"You could take up knittin'?"

"I have a job, remember?"

It was a point I felt duty bound to have to make, since he seemed to have forgotten that I also got a pay cheque and while it wasn't as much as his, it was still more than I'd ever made. Back when I had started with the company nine months ago, I had been simply ferrying towels and water back and forth, but since then I had been vaguely promoted up to valet and the increased television time had evidently meant more cash. Not that I was sure who was dishing it out to me –

Did they have a standard pricing or was my father involved?

Naturally his giving me a pay rise seemed unlikely but then somewhere deep down I knew Hunter truly cared. He was still my birth parent in spite of what had happened and although we were not friends, it didn't mean he wanted me poor.

Dean clicked his fingers,

"Princess?"

"What?"

"Y' zoned out again."

"Oh, I was just thinking."

"Sounds dangerous."

I rolled my eyes.

Not that it helped me to much get my point across and so tightening my fingers around the thin bands of denim I pulled him a little closer and then looked up into his eyes. I was attempting to make my explanation irrefutable but his handsome face stalled me in a bubble of happy awe.

Lauren, focus.

I sucked a deep breath in and cleared my throat slightly,

"It's my world now too, I mean, I know that wrestling has been your thing since forever and you know the business a lot better than I do, but for almost a year I've been living and breathing it and I like being around it, I don't want to let that go and it doesn't seem fair that you get to go back to it if I have to sit here being all miserable and alone. Doesn't it mean they've won if I start hiding? You get to have your vengeance and kick some ass, so why can't I?"

Possibly by adding the kicking ass bit into it I managed to strip away some of the gravitas because Dean snorted wryly then shook his head a little, while rubbing his thumbs fondly up and down my cheeks.

"You don't have a place in the fight this time Princess, m' gonna be doin' some pretty wild stuff."

"I can be wild."

"Not wild as in dangerous an' I don't want them comin' after you to pay me back."

"But I could come out to ringside – ,"

Dean interrupted firmly and his entire face darkened like I'd said the wrong thing. His hands stayed thumbing my jawline gently but his expression was something else and it was darker than death.

"No, you're done with bein' my fuckin' cheer team, you deserve somethin' better."

"Okay, like what?"

He shrugged and some of the tension bled away from him so that he actually glanced down and flashed me a smile, pulling in the frankly adorable little dimples that made my heart spin even having seen them a million times.

"I don't know baby but we'll think a' somethin', maybe a nurse with a sexy uniform?"

I blinked,

"You mean find a job outside of the business?"

"Why not?"

"Because – ,"

The doorbell cut me off and I was then inelegantly kicked in the ribcage as the dog startled upright barking loudly as he chased off. Given that we were hardly in the position for visitors, I screwed up my brow wondering who it might be although my boyfriend merely grinned and thumbed my cheeks for a final time before throwing me a chirpy little wink,

"Looks like she's here."

"Who's here?"

Instead of answering me however, he simply turned and strode from the room, forcing me to follow in a baffled little stagger, clumsily trying to shove my fleece-lined slipper boots back on. By the time I managed to make it from our bedroom and halfway down our wide sweeping stairs, Dean was in the process of wrangling the dog back and opening the front door.

"Hey, glad you could come."

"Sorry we're late, Roger just threw up everywhere and I had to pull over to mop it all up."

My best friend stepped breezily into our hallway with a baby on her hip and towing a wheeled bag. More were stacked on the porch step behind her, as well as what looked like a traveling crib and as Dean let go of Boomer to help ferry them in for her, I stuttered out a word in tones of bafflement,

"Kel?"

"Laurie – ooh you're right, she does look a little pale still."

It took a second to realize that she was talking to Dean, who shuffled in behind her holding a bag packed full of baby clothes and another one bursting with diapers before nodding,

"I told you so."

Boomer meanwhile was so pumped with excitement that he was actually prancing up and down on his paws and trying his best to sniff my baby godson, who in turn stared back down like he'd found the meaning of life. Round little eyes swung up at his mother then towards the tongue-lolling, uber fluffy dog and were swiftly followed by his hands reaching forward and trying to touch the silky black fur.

"Oh, look baby, is that a doggy – can you say woof woof, can you say woof woof for mama?"

For a second I stood and blinked in bewilderment because the whole thing seemed like a really bizarre dream and I actually turned back and stared up the staircase on the off chance that I had tripped and was sprawled further up, while my consciousness existed in some altered reality where my best friend showed up idly right out of the blue.

"Um, what's going on?"

Both of them stopped briefly and then looked back up at me, as if the answer to that question was patently clear, which possibly it was between the two co-conspirators but remained a huge gaping mystery to me. Seeing the levels of my perplexity however, Kelly stepped forward towards the foot of the stairs, holding out a hand like a mother to a child to which I trudged towards obediently and let her pull me in close.

"Sorry sweetie, I forgot this was a surprise deal."

"Surprise for who?"

"For you obviously fluff for brains."

Her tone was light and borderline huffy but in the very same moment she was laughing as well, in the blue eye expression that I had actually missed sorely and which brightened my heart on being able to see. Passing across my godson she broke things down swiftly as I took the beaming baby and settled him in against my hip.

"Dean didn't want you to be on your own with that head knock, so he asked me to come over for a bit of girl time while he's off putting his fists through other peoples' faces – ,"

Kelly tailed off and then smiling merrily,

"Oh, right."

I was still a little dazed but it was quickly converted as my chunky little godson raised up a pudgy hand and cracked me right across the nose with a toy truck before giggling wildly like it was the best thing he'd ever done. Kelly snorted then turned to help Dean out as he continued to struggle across the threshold with her bags, which looked a little like she was staying forever instead of a few days or however long it was. Boomer padded over again and put his front feet on the staircase, hoping to move a little closer to the boy and so I took a seat beside him and allowed him some sniffing while murmuring to him softly,

"Nice and gentle Boom."

In response to the tickling in around his little earlobe, Roger let out a shriek of delight and my poor pooch promptly skittered off backwards before wagging his tail broadly and moving in for a second try. Roger's tiny hand slammed down on his forehead and then proceeded to bash him on the skull for a bit and even though our canine shut his eyes and flinched a little, his tail kept on swinging as he sniffed across the kid. Evidently they seemed to connect on some level that was way above my lofty adult climes but it made me grin because they looked cute together and so I whispered across the hall,

"Look, our babies are best friends."

Kelly snorted vaguely at my calling the dog my baby, but she smiled nonetheless and paused to drink the scene in, particularly loving her son's wild giggles as Boomer's tongue found out his fingers and began to keenly clean them up.

"Well of course they are Laurie, they didn't have a choice in it."

Dean hauled in the last bag with a grunt,

"'Kay, all done, now I'd better get goin' otherwise m' gonna end up missin' my plane,"

My shoulders fell on instinct and my body slumped with it because the words were the ones I was hoping not to hear, since literally everyone in life that I cared about was clustered about in the same tiny place, missing only Brent and Roman to make it total.

In short, I didn't want my boyfriend to leave.

"Oh."

"Hey," Dean crossed the space in towards me and easily swept my godson back to his mom, before taking my hands and drawing me up into him so my miserable face could pillow deep into his hold, "Princess, m' gonna be back before y' know it, an' it's gonna be easier on me knowin' that you're here safe an' not somehow gettin' yourself into trouble – ,"

I interrupted pouting,

"I'm not always doing that."

In response to it he raised a thick brow in my direction and my duplicitous best friend let out a disparaging laugh as well, meaning that evidently neither one of them believed me and that my growing reputation for seeking out chaos was not in its death throes but instead alive and well. To prove the point, Dean stroked through my hairline and found out the bump on the back of my head, which had shrunk a whole lot from its original egg size but was still kind of tender.

I winced a little,

"Ouch."

"Yeah, that's why you're better here baby."

"I – I'll miss you."

Dean kissed me,

"I know."

Rolling my eyes I swatted at him mildly then was caught unawares as his lips swept in again and took hold of my mouth with such pure ferocity that I actually squeaked and then melted into him. The contact was warm and wet and fully beautiful and as usual it managed to affect me as a whole, from my weak feeling knees to the tingles in my fingertips and I groaned across his tongue in unbridled delight,

"Mmmm."

Kelly coughed,

"Um, baby boy being scarred for life here, rein it back folks, he's not going overseas."

Reluctantly we broke apart both grinning, like a couple of naughty school kids which we totally were. Bumping his head up, Dean gave me a loving last peck and then grabbed up the bag and jacket positioned on the stairs. His slid into the leather like he was putting a second skin on and I shivered a little at how damn good he looked, all sort of biker style with the dark jeans and thick boots and further helped by the shades he slipped into place over the top. Bending down he gave Boomer a quick last ruffle and then pointed between the pooch and my best friend with a scowl,

"You two, you got one job here alright? You look after her."

Kelly saluted with a heel click,

"Yes sir."

He snorted in response to it then glanced back at me again and I bit my bottom lip to stop from bawling my eyes out. Even though his blue orbs were reflective-lens covered, I could tell he felt horrible about walking out on me and so I didn't want to make the whole thing worse by crying. Especially because I would be seeing him in three days. That was all it was, the sum total of our parting and yet I couldn't help but feel completely desolate about it all.

"Princess, no trouble, okay?"

I nodded and then he smiled at me before heading out and shutting the door, which rendered the entrance hall weirdly sort of silent until Roger started gurgling and chewing keenly on his hand. Kelly looked across and caught sight of my expression at which point she moved swiftly into her patented best friend mode, stepping across to put her free arm round my shoulders and then leading me off,

"Where's the kitchen? We need some booze."

Fortunately however she wasn't being serious since she was still a regularly breast feeding new mother after all and so the pair of us made do with two cups of strong coffee and a packet of cookies I found on a shelf. Roger sat happily nibbling on a chocolate chip and being bounced around like a ball on the tip of Kelly's knee, while Boomer laid next to him gazing in wonder to the point where I decided that my dog was in love. Kelly brushed some crumbs off her lap onto the floor for him and he dived in only too willing to help.

"God you two are sickening together, I mean I thought Brent and I were schmoopy and bad – ,"

"Where is Brent anyway?"

It had taken a few minutes, but I properly clued in to her husband not being there and I had to say that brought my mood even lower because the big guy was like the other brother I'd never had. Kelly flapped her hand,

"He's got a big meeting and couldn't come over, but he sends you his love."

"Aww, that's sweet."

"Mostly however he's sending some serious death wishes to that two-toned little asshole."

I blinked,

"You mean Seth?"

Hearing his name on its own made her angry and she swiped up a cookie and dunked it roughly in her drink, swirling it around in the rich brown coffee and then pulling it out to take an angry bite. She used the remaining half to gesture at me forcefully,

"That total fucking weasel, I hope Dean cuts off his balls and then feeds them slowly to a pack of hungry jackdaws in front of his cold and backstabbing little eyes."

Her ferocity made me pause,

"He – um – visited me in hospital."

"Who did?"

I couldn't blame her for being confused, because the last living person she would have probably predicted to be on my list of worried visitors was the man who had caused the hurt. In fact just saying it was liable to tip her over and so I traced my finger across the table top awkwardly and then tried to say the name like it was no big deal,

"Seth."

"What?"

Kelly's screech almost took the damn roof off and I winced as it echoed around the airy room. Boomer looked up with a jolt of bewilderment and even little Roger stuck his lip out a bit and began to huff in breaths like he was thinking of crying, until my pooch stepped in again to lick his hand.

Crisis averted, or – well – part of it.

Kelly gaped in horror across the cookie packet,

"You're shitting me? He actually had the balls to stroll right on in there? What did Dean do?"

"Um, he kinda doesn't know."

"How the hell did you manage to pull that off?"

I blew out a sigh and sank low against the chair back because remembering the whole thing was draining to say the least and I startled as a big fluffy head hit my kneecaps and then hovered in place having picked up on my being sad. I smiled and scratched the spot behind his left earlobe that made his back leg pulse rapidly up and down and it briefly lifted the waves of nervousness off me until I felt a bit better,

"He came when Dean had gone – I mean – Roman was there, but the poor guy was all sleepy and so the next thing I know, Seth is standing in the door and saying he wants to talk to me about things."

"Did he apologize?"

I snorted,

"Not really, no, but I got the sense that a part of him wanted to because it was an accident after all."

Kelly threw her eyes to the heavens,

"Yeah sure, so that's why he levelled the big guy as well? Is that why he was trying to make ground beef out of your boyfriend? I mean, he might not have meant to hit you with that steel chair but he knew what he was doing when he was swinging it the first two times."

I blinked in response and dropped my eyes reluctantly.

There was simply no denying that my best friend was right and although my instinct was to protect Seth slightly, I frankly had no reason to really do that anymore. Not for the man that had been trying to hurt Dean anyway. But at the end of the day, old habits died hard.

"I know, but I guess I still see him as my brother."

"Dean doesn't seem to."

I shook my head,

"He does, he just has a very different way of coping with the big things, besides, it's much easier to be angry than to be sad and he's trying to be strong to stop me from worrying – ,"

I tailed off and left the rest of the sentence unsaid but it was obvious there was more that was harrying away at me and so my best friend fixed me with a motherly look, that clearly was not going to take my unconvincing word for it or accept that I was done.

"But you're worrying anyway, right?"

"Oh yeah."

"About what the authority might do to Dean or about what he might potentially do to them?"

In reality though my main concern was sort of neither although obviously those two options were toying with my mind. Instead I was mostly caught up in my future and where my life lay if not near the squared ring. Okay so I had never been an actual performer and never would be or wanted to be, but the traveling circus of wrestling was where my heart was and where I had blossomed into the girl I was meant to be. The thought of having to step away from that was scary and I felt a little like I was grieving for that world.

I sighed sort of shakily,

"I'm really going to miss it."

Kelly frowned at me cluelessly,

"Miss what?"

"Traveling with Dean – oh – and Roman as well, I always loved that."

"So why the hell can't you have it again?"

Based on the way her blue eyes were narrowed, my best friend wasn't following my thread, so I shrugged back shortly and tried to put a spin on it, like it wasn't completely tearing me apart.

"Dean thinks it's way too dangerous to be out there and I can't work backstage as a runner anymore. Hunter or Steph would always be there with me and I wouldn't feel safe walking those corridors on my own, which means there isn't anything I can do to have a place there."

Kelly blinked,

"Bullshit, I'm not buying that at all."

"It's true."

"But there has to be something you haven't thought of."

I shook my head,

"Technically I'd be safest on screen, because no one could grab me without the world whole seeing, but if I'm out there with Dean then I just get in the way, so what am I supposed to do?"

"Find some protection."

Kelly seemed pretty unwavering on that, like she thought I that I could maybe call in the cosa nostra or personal protection officers to tail my every step and which possibly wouldn't have been a terrible idea either considering it would undoubtedly have kept me pretty safe. Idly I imagined sweeping in through gorilla with a host of big black suited federal agents at my side and watching my stepmother gape in bewilderment as they ushered me through with ear pieces and guns. Evidently however, Kelly was thinking differently as she then made clear,

"Isn't Vince still the boss?"

"He isn't just the boss, he owns the whole business."

"So can't you go to him?"

I blinked,

"To say what?"

I honestly couldn't see Vince being sympathetic because if I was on the screen being grabbed by my father or hounded by Seth then it was ratings gold for him and drew the fans ever deeper into our lunacy which meant more ticket sales and viewers and happy things. Besides which he was still very much Stephanie's papa bear and so was therefore more likely to side with his kid and strangely I wouldn't have even begrudged him since it would have been natural –

Blood being thicker than water and all that.

I snorted roughly as I thought of my own father and how he had pretty much shrugged that mantra right off and then lingered briefly on the fact he hadn't called me, or even dropped a text to see how I was. So okay, he probably had connections at the hospital and Seth had no doubt passed on the news that I wasn't dead, but to have heard precisely nothing when I had been flat out unconscious was probably the part of it had emotionally hurt the most. Especially since just a couple of months earlier he had been stood in the office talking his father-in-law down, when Vince had decided to slap me on commentary in an experiment that had gone badly but that the boss had seemed to like.

How could Hunter have changed so rapidly?

I had received an unknown call a few days ago, but whoever it was had chosen to say nothing and so I hadn't quite worked out if it was him checking up on me or not. Maybe just hearing my voice had been enough for him, or maybe it was a butt dial from someone I didn't know. Either way the thought pretty much brought my mood down and I sighed at my best friend,

"No, talking to Vince won't work, the only thing he wants is – ,"

I stopped dead in an instant and then my mouth dropped open as a lightbulb lit up. Kelly saw the look and knew it in a second and she promptly set her third or forth cookie back down, lifting a brow in impatient suspensefulness and then waving her hand in a chivvying way,

"You have a plan?"

I nodded,

"I think so, but I'm going to need plane tickets and I'm going to need them pretty fast too."

Maybe I was crazy or working on concussion, or maybe I was taking control of things for once. But I knew for a fact I didn't want my life to change remotely and so while my plan was make or break, it was the only one I had and the one possibility to salvage my career, not to mention my happy traveling life with Dean.

I knew in a moment that I was going to have to take it.

What choice was there left?

I was going to see the king.


Lauren has had her eureka moment...but does anybody have the first clue what it is? Let's just say it's going to cause a lot of drama and that Dean won't be happy. Drama ahead!