A/N: Sorry for the huge delay. I've had some pretty crappy stuff going on lately and had zero time to write. But at last, I bring you a new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!

Outside the cars sped by, blurs of color against black asphalt. Everything seemed fuzzy, out of focus. It had been like this for days now, ever since…

"Aidan!"

She looked from the window to Nattie, Kaitlyn, and Daniel who were all staring at her curiously. They'd all been traveling together to the arena where Smackdown would take place. She was vaguely aware that they'd reached their destination and that her friends were already outside of the car.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

Kaitlyn looked worried.

"We're here. Are you going to get out?"

Realizing she was looking like a complete space case, she opened the door and slid out of the backseat. She walked around to the open trunk and pulled out her suitcase, very aware that all of her friends were still watching her closely.

"Are you okay? You've been zoned out all week."

She put on her most convincing smile.

"I'm fine."

"I'll bet she misses Punk," Nattie said with a pout.

This time her smile was less convincing. She missed her fiancé terribly. It had been over a week since she'd seen him. Even their phone conversations were much shorter since he'd been busy with the endless stream of media tours and shows. As much as she missed him, it was probably best that he'd been away. She was certain she wouldn't be able to look at Punk without him knowing that something had changed. She could barely look at herself anymore. What had happened with Dean still horrified her. The worst part about it was that she'd enjoyed it. That moment between them had awoken something within herself that she'd been fighting to ignore, and it all came rushing up when he'd looked into her eyes. She'd seen a frailty in him, something that was normally impossible to see beyond his rough and obnoxious exterior. She'd asked herself over and over why she'd kissed him that night. At last she'd realized it really wasn't that big of a mystery. That frailty within him existed in herself, but in that brief moment, she was whole.

Nattie took Aidan's silence as an affirmation of her presumption. She came over and put her arm around Aidan's shoulder.

"Don't worry, dear. Things will slow down soon. I'll bet as soon as NXT is over they'll be putting you on RAW more often."

Aidan offered up a small smile.

"I hope so."

"How are things going between you and your rookie?" Daniel asked suddenly. He gave her a knowing look, one she tried not to read into.

"Things are actually better. I'm feeling less and less often like murdering him."

Daniel looked at her as if he suspected bullshit. She raised a brow but their nonverbal conversation was interrupted by Kaitlyn.

"That's good. I was feeling really bad for you there for a while. I've heard that he's a total creep."

"He's not so bad as everyone makes him out to be…once you get to know him."

"Well, you're a better woman than me. If I had to put up with that psycho I would have probably called it quits," Nattie said jokingly.

They were barely inside the building before Dolph Ziggler came bounding up to meet them.

"Hello ladies," he said, shooting a grin toward Daniel.

"Dolph. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Daniel asked flatly.

"I'm trying to round up the NXT pros and rookies and invite them out for some drinks tonight. I know you two losers don't drink alcohol, but you can come anyway and sip some ginger ale or whatever the hell it is you drink. Of course, Natalya and Kaitlyn, you're invited too."

Aidan exchanged a look with Daniel.

"I don't know. I've was going to head home early this week," Daniel said.

At that moment, Derrick came running up.

"Daniel, please. You have to be my wingman tonight!" he pleaded. He shot a glance at the three ladies standing by. "Hi," he said, his voice deepening.

Daniel smirked. Aidan got the feeling he had a soft spot for his goofy rookie.

"Alright, I'll go."

"Nat, Kay?"

They looked at each other. Kaitlyn shrugged.

"Yeah, we'll be there," Nattie said.

"What about you Aidan? Don't worry about Punk. I already asked him and he said I could be his stand in."

"I highly doubt that," she said with a grin.

"If I have to go, you might as well come too," Daniel said reassuringly.

"Yeah, you should come!" said Kaitlyn.

Nattie was the next to pipe in.

"You need a night out to clear your head."

Before Aidan could even respond Dolph interrupted.

"Great! It's settled then. I'll see you guys tonight."

Dolph started to run off but he stopped short.

"Hey, Aidan. Ask Dean if he wants to come. I haven't been able to find him."

What a surprise that Dean was yet again missing. It always seemed to come down to her to find him.

"Yeah…I'll ask him."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Before the show began, she made a point to seek out Dean. Aside from the fact that she'd been asked to deliver an invitation to Dolph's outing, she needed to talk to him. After giving it a lot of thought, she decided it was best that they try to forget about what had happened last Tuesday. She knew there was no way she could forget about it, but it needed to stop. It should have never happened and it couldn't happen again.

She found him stalking around outside the arena. She could tell he was in a bad mood the moment she laid eyes on him. He looked even more disheveled than normal. The ground was littered with several cigarette butts. He flicked another one to the ground as she walked up. His eyes came to rest on her and lit up with some unfathomable gamut of emotions.

Great. This should be fun.

"Dean," she said weakly.

There was an overwhelming harshness in his voice when he spoke.

"Sunshine. I'm so very happy to see you."

"Yeah…are you ok?"

"I'm great! The real question is how are you doing?"

"Not well," she said slowly.

"Not well? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

She glared at him.

"I think you know."

"I think you know," he repeated with venom. He began pacing around. Aidan noticed his hands were balling into fists. His right hand looked busted up.

"What did you do to your hand?"

He stopped and stared at her.

"I punched a wall."

"Ok…now is obviously not a good time. I'll talk to you later."

"No, let's talk. I want to talk," he said. He sat down on the stairs leading backstage and gestured for her to come join him. Very reluctantly, she sat down next to him.

"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked, a deranged smile on his lips.

"I wanted to talk to you about last week," she said softly.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Well…I don't think we need to go down that road anymore. What happened…happened and there's nothing we can do to change that. It was a stupid mistake. I won't let it happen again."

His eyes narrowed sharply for a split second.

"It was a mistake?" he asked in a low voice. He seemed to contemplate the thought. "It was a mistake," he repeated, this time in admission.

"Are you angry?" she asked tentatively.

He shrugged.

"Why would I be angry?"

She studied him for a moment, trying to determine if he was being truthful. At the least, he seemed much calmer than he had moments earlier. It was scary sometimes how quickly his moods fluctuated.

"I guess that's it then. Oh…Dolph asked me to pass along the word. He's invited all the rookies and pros out for drinks tonight. I think some other people are going too."

"Are you going?" he asked.

"Yeah…"

He nodded slowly.

"I'll be there."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She'd only been in the bar for half an hour and already she was annoyed.

A lot more people showed up than the NXT pros and rookies. It seemed the majority of the Smackdown roster was packed into the bar Dolph had selected for the evening. Nattie and Kaitlyn had run off with some of the other girls to dance. Despite their best efforts, they could not convince her to get up and join them. She also had no interest in drinking. That left her sitting at a table with the odd group of Daniel Bryan, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Antonio Cesaro. Daniel and Antonio were deeply engrossed in a conversation about their indie league days. Ricardo was presently attempting to put his arm around her shoulder.

"How do you like touring with Smackdown," Ricardo asked.

"I miss Raw, especially since my boyfriend is there."

Aidan stood up from the table. Antonio and Daniel stopped talking long enough to look at her.

"Excuse me," she said.

She walked off and settled into a stool at the bar. She could see across the entire floor from this position. She watched Nattie dancing with Tyson Kidd. The two were beyond cute together. Kaitlyn was talking with Wade Barrett at the side of the room. The Englishman had a devilish grin on his lips and was leaning in closer and closer. Her eyes continued to scan the room until she spotted him. Dean was sitting at a table in the corner. He had two girls with him, one on either side. The blonde on his left leaned in, giving him a sloppy drunken kiss. After a moment, he pulled back from her and kissed the redhead on his right. Seeing him with these two bar sluts left her feeling a little sick, and strangely, angry. Suddenly she realized she shouldn't be judging these women. After all, she was in their spot a few years ago. This realization only made the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach grow stronger.

When Dean pulled away from the redhead, his eyes met Aidan's and his lips twisted into a smirk. Embarrassed that she'd been caught staring, she forced a smile then turned her back on him. She sat at the bar with her head in her hands. It wasn't long before Daniel sat down beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Just ready to go," she said.

"Same here. Do you want to catch a ride with me?"

"Absolutely. You're a life saver."

He paused for a moment, looking like he had something to say.

"What is it?" Aidan asked.

"Look, I know it's not really any of my business, but there's nothing going on between you and Dean is there?"

Aidan's heart nearly stopped.

"No. Why do you ask?"

He was hesitant.

"Derrick saw you leaving the arena last Tuesday. He said you rushed out and you looked really upset. When he went back inside, Dean was throwing some kind of fit. He punched a wall and nearly broke his hand."

Aidan took in the news in a state of shock. She had no idea any of this had happened. It all explained the busted hand she'd witnessed earlier that day.

She was met with a tough decision. Should she come clean and tell Daniel the truth or should she play dumb. She knew Daniel wasn't the type to gossip. Still, she really felt like she should take this one to the grave.

"I had no idea. I left upset that day because Punk's schedule changed last minute. Whatever happened with Dean, I don't know. Just about anything can set him off."

Daniel eyed her for a moment.

"Just be careful. I know you can take care of yourself, but dealing with him is dangerous in any respect. I don't want you to get hurt."

Aidan nodded. She glanced behind her and noticed that Dean and the two girls were gone.

"You ready to get out of here?" Daniel asked.

Aidan ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Let's go."