Saturday morning seemed to arrive early. Dean's ringing phone woke the couple. Roman and Seth wanted to meet up at the gym for their usual work out so Denise promised that she would meet up with the group afterwards for breakfast or lunch. Assured that she wasn't mad, he headed out to meet his friends.
Two hours later, Denise was holding a table for the group at the restaurant. Each of the guys gave her shoulders a quick squeeze when they came in and found drinks already waiting for them. "Damn, Dean." Cesaro teased. "How the hell did you get so lucky?"
Dean dropped his arm along the back of her chair. "All mine, man. Don't even think about it." All the guys chuckled.
Cesaro looked at Denise and winked. "If you ever want a classy man…" Denise reached under the table and rubbed Dean's thigh as she held up the menu to hide her face with the other.
"Okay, okay. Stop teasing the nice lady." Roman rumbled. The guys all calmed down and had a nice lunch. When it was finished, it was time to check out of the hotel and head to the arena.
Denise watched Dean's match that night against Cesaro. She flinched as the match seemed to be a little too real. The punches and jabs kept coming, neither man giving the other any reprieve.
When the house show was over and the rental was packed, Dean and Denise drove to the next hotel. Denise reached across the car to stroke Dean's hand that was resting on his thigh. She whispered, "You remember that I told you not to doubt us? No matter what anyone says, does, or offers. Unless…"
Dean clutched her hand. "You are mine. When we are in public, this is my role as a man. When another man…" he shook his head. "It's just how it is."
The rest of the ride was quiet. Check in was quiet. Preparing for bed was quiet. Dean stiffly crawled into bed. Denise lay quietly beside him, reaching over to rub his aching shoulders until he fell asleep.
Sunday morning, Dean once again headed to the gym with Roman and Seth. It was easy for them to see his head wasn't in his workout. Roman questioned his friend as he spotted him on the bench press. Dean grunted noncommittally. "Whatever is going on between the two of you, don't let it go on too long. If you don't deal with it, it only gets worse." he said before turning to walk away.
"Cesaro's stupid comment." Dean muttered. "I know I'm not worthy of her. She's so…" he trailed off.
"That is a load of shit." Roman responded. "That woman is so into you it isn't funny. When has my woman gone to a restaurant to hold a table for us and ordered us drinks? Not just you, man. All of us. She's special. She takes care of you and your friends." Roman shook his head. "You fuck this up and you deserve to be alone."
Denise was confused as to why she and Dean were walking so carefully around each other. They had been so open and real together, and now things were so different. She felt…confused. Raw. Exposed. By the time she woke up Monday morning and realized the bed was cold, she wondered why she had agreed to spend the weekend traveling with him. They were so much closer when she was hundreds or thousands of miles away from him instead of feet away.
Dean parked the car at the arena. The couple got their luggage out and took it in, with Dean leading the way. Once inside, Dean motioned for Denise to wait and he returned to grab her suitcase to take it into the locker room to put it with his. Things have certainly changed in three days. Denise didn't speak her thoughts out loud. She hoped that they'd get back to an even keel when they had a chance to talk later on.
Denise saw Roman and Seth heading for catering, so she tagged along with them to grab a bite to eat. Dean seemed to be taking forever in the locker room. Cesaro stopped by the table briefly, apologizing to Denise in case he had made her feel uncomfortable before or if he had caused any trouble with Dean. Denise tried to play it off, but it was obvious to all three of the men that there were issues with the couple. Cesaro patted her shoulder and apologized again before walking away.
Roman spoke quietly to Denise. "You need to understand that he is completely different with you. This is new to him. He doesn't know, and that's not an excuse. Denise, the man is trying. Give him credit for that."
She looked at Dean's friend. "Roman, I give him all of the credit in the world. I get that this is new to him but he can't shut me out. If there is going to be an 'us' he has to act like it."
"Agreed." the big man said. "He knows how special you are. He'll figure out a way to tell you."
The show had started and Dean still hadn't shown up. Roman's segment was coming up, so Seth and Denise began walking backstage looking for Dean. Seth mentioned that Dean had an interview planned before his match, so they headed for the interview area.
Denise froze in her tracks. Renee was propped against the wall, her leg hiked up, batting her eyelashes at Dean, who was currently leaning down over her. It looked like a very cozy moment between the two. Seth bumped into Denise. "You don't know…"
She murmured, "But I know we talked about this. He knows. He knows." Denise turned to walk past Seth. She quickly whispered, "Not a word."
Seth followed her down the hall. "What are you doing?"
"I have to go. I can't stay here and watch…I have to go." Seth stopped her at the door to the men's locker room, going in to get her luggage for her.
"Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded. Seth grabbed one of the stagehands and gave him a handful of cash. "Find her a cab. Don't leave her alone." Denise gave him a hug and was gone.
Seth waited until Roman was backstage before going to confront Dean. "So, you ditched your girlfriend for this cheap piece of ass?" Seth snarled.
"I thought you promised your girlfriend that you weren't going to do interviews with her anymore." Roman growled with his arms crossed over his chest.
Renee stuttered. Dean began to argue. "You don't have a thing to say that I want to hear." Seth shouted. "I was right beside her when she saw you with this whore! We saw it all, Dean. You were afraid to lose her, so you did the one thing you knew would drive her away. Congratulations, she's gone. Keep your bitch. Stay the fuck away from me."
Denise got to the airport and bought a ticket for the first flight to the city closest to home. She was afraid if she waited that Dean might come looking for her. She was more afraid that he wouldn't. Since she took such a circuitous route home, it took her almost fourteen hours to get to her front door instead of the more direct three hour flight and drive from the airport.
As Denise was nearing her street, she could see her house. She saw him on her front step. She continued driving past her street and pulled over on the side of the road, out of sight. For the first time since leaving Raw, she turned on her phone. He had filled her box with messages hours ago. She couldn't count the number of missed calls she had. He had even tried texting. The messages he sent were obviously distressed, filled with worry over where she was. He knew how long it should have taken her to get home and he was approaching panic.
Denise pulled back onto the road, turned around, and parked on the street in the neighborhood behind hers. She entered her house through the back door and went up to her bedroom. Looking out the window, she called Dean from her cell phone.
"Thank God you are alive! Where the hell are you? Haven't you gotten my…" he started ranting and pacing as soon as he answered.
"I don't owe you anything." Denise whispered brokenly. Dean stopped talking. "For all you said, you promised…HER. It had to be her." She ended on a broken sob.
"No." he denied.
"I know what I saw, Dean. You got pissy over another man saying a couple of words. Yet she gets all flirty with you…again…and you hang all over her…again…and I am supposed to be okay with that? HA! I can't do that, Dean. I can't handle that. I know you think that I am some hard-ass dominatrix and all, but tha…" Denise choked on her tears. "You know, I have spent so much time crying over you in the last four days, I don't know why I am still talking to you. Where is the effort on your part? Oh, that's right. You need to work out your frustrations with Renee." Denise hung up her phone and put her hand to her mouth to smother her sobs.
She repacked her suitcase and snuck out her backdoor, relocking it behind her. Knowing that, if Dean figured out she was nearby, all of the local hotels would be checked, Denise drove to the beach an hour away and checked in under an assumed name. She paid for the room with the rest of the cash that Seth had given her.
Dropping to the bed, her cell rang again. Seeing it was Seth, Denise answered. "Has he found you yet?"
"He was waiting on my front step when I got home." she sighed.
"How did that go?" Roman asked.
"Speaker phone. Grreeaatt." Denise groaned. "Actually, he never saw me."
"What did you do?" Seth asked. "Dean said it was a three hour trip home. He was pissed at first, but now he's just been freaking out because no one has been able to find you."
"You have to talk to him." Roman added.
"I did. I snuck into the house to get some clean clothes. I called and talked to him while I repacked. He was pacing in the front yard the whole time claiming that I didn't see what I saw. It's just…I don't know how to get past this. I don't know if I can. If I want to. If he wants to." Denise ended her conversation in a weak whisper.
"Don't give up." Roman encouraged.
"Where are you?" Seth asked.
"I tell you and you tell him. Not going to happen." Denise denied prior to hanging up.
Two hours later Denise's phone rang. Dean's message was very direct. "We will have this conversation face to face. You can run if you want. I will find you. I will fix this. Yes, I fucked up. I didn't fuck her. My dick belongs to you and only you. That's how I know I will find you. Realize that this isn't an option, Denise. I don't have a fucking choice. I need you. Sleep well tonight. Dream of me."