Thank you so much for the reviews on the previous chapter and the continuous support!
Long chapter ahead, no surprise there. I'm so sorry that these chapters end up being so long. I try so hard to make them shorter and fail each time. Anyway,
~Enjoy!~
The morning after the Smackdown taping, The Bella Twins were able to catch a flight back home to spend time with their family. Brie was quiet, more distant, the entire plane ride. She wasn't looking forward to being home, which was a rare thing for her because she usually loved family time whenever she could get it. Her mind had been racing nonstop since the last show. It wasn't only due to the fact that she would have to face her family after everything that happened. It was the short run in she had with Paige. The conversation stuck with her and haunted her all night. She had become used to restless nights since she was hit with the hard truth about Roman and Paige, but last night was different. Her mindset was different. Her thoughts were-
"Brie!" She heard an annoyed voice shout, wrenching her from her thoughts. Brie snapped out of her trance and looked blankly at her sister as she slammed the trunk of the rental car. "Gosh, I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall."
Brie sighed. "Sorry. What were you saying?" She gave Nikki an apologetic look after receiving and eye roll.
Nikki shook her head and turned away from Brie then made her way around the car to the driver's seat. Well this is going to be a fun two days, Brie thought to herself with sarcasm.
When they were both in the car, Nikki reached her hand to start the car but stopped for a moment and turned to face Brie.
"Look Brie, I know being cheated on sucks. It's happened to me too. But we're home. And you're completely out of it. You claim you're fine but-" She said without beating around the bush.
"But nothing." Brie interrupted her. "And I'm not 'completely out of it.'"
"Really? Tell me one thing I said to you on the plane. In the airport? Like two minutes ago?" Nikki said dubiously.
Brie pursed her lips to the side as she thought hard for an answer. She soon gave up with a sigh. "Okay, fine. I wasn't really listening. Sorry."
"Wow, what a shocker." Nikki responded sarcastically. "Like I said, you're totally out of it. On a whole different planet. And it's worse than before so I know it's not just the Roman cheating thing. What's your deal?"
"I'm not 'out of it.' I don't have a 'deal'. I'm just really tired, okay?" Brie said defensively.
"When was the last time you actually slept?" Nikki asked with concern but didn't receive an answer. She sighed. "Brie you keep saying you're fine, but I know you-"
"I am fine, Nicole. Are you going to drive, or not?" Brie said coldly.
Nikki gave her a knowing look that expressed that she wasn't too appreciative of her tone as she started the car.
"And I'd be a lot better if you didn't feel the need to rub it in my face every 10 seconds." Brie mumbled as she looked out of the window.
After rolling her eyes, Nikki kept her eyes on the road and kept driving in silence.
"For someone who doesn't like technology, you look like you're having fun over there." Emma smiled.
Dean was sprawled out on the sofa in Emma and Paige's hotel room, messing around with Emma's new iPhone. He looked away from the phone and turned his head to face Emma as she brushed the tangles out of her blonde hair. "Nope, I'm just looking at your Instagram."
Emma let out a giggle as she placed the hairbrush back in one of her bags. "Why don't you just make an account? You seem to enjoy it."
"I just find it amusing. I don't do social media, you know that." Dean said as he looked back to the phone.
Emma shrugged with a smile before walking in his direction. She stood in front of him and looked at the fact that his body was taking up the entire sofa. Before she even had the chance to say anything, he sat up to give her a spot to sit. Emma smiled as his eyes remained on the phone screen. She took a seat and soon after was a little surprised when Dean laid back down, resting his head on her lap.
"Oh yes, sure, you can use me as your pillow." Emma joked with sarcasm as she began playing with the shaggy mess on his head.
"That's all I ask for, Blondie." He said with a grin.
Emma opened her mouth to respond but was cut off, "Have you talked to Seth or Roman lately?" Dean asked.
Emma shook her head. "No, not really. Everything's so weird right now, I'm just giving them space."
"What about the Bellas?" Dean continued questioning.
"I texted Nikki a little after they landed yesterday. Why? What's going on?"
"Nothin'. Just curious." He stated. A moment passed before he continued. "You know, since both of them aren't around, I thought Seth and Roman could stop being such lovesick buzzkills for a while. Guess I was wrong."
Emma shrugged a shoulder as she listened to Dean's words. "I can't remember the last time the three of us had some real fun. Seth's pissed at the world. Roman won't admit it but he's been so mentally wrapped up in Paige-" He began spilling until the door opened, grabbing his attention.
Paige walked in, as if on cue when her name was said, and eyed the two on the sofa as she took off her leather jacket. "Am I interrupting?" She asked as the two stared at her without saying a word.
"No." Emma said without hesitation.
"Yes." Dean grunted at the raven haired diva.
"Good." Paige flashed him a smile. She walked over to their mini fridge to grab a bottle of water before walking towards Emma and Dean. She took a seat on the coffee table in front of them as they remained quiet. She eyed them with suspicion. "Were you guys talking about me?... Is that why you're acting so strange?" She asked after taking a sip of her water.
Emma shook her head instantly. "Oh no. We were just talking about how much Dean misses Seth and Roman."
Dean looked up at the blonde. "Not once did the word 'miss' come up in our conversation."
Paige looked away from the two as they began bantering. She felt bad. Dean, Seth, and Roman's friendship had changed so much and she knew she was largely to blame. Nothing good had come out of her fling with Roman. Even after it all, she still couldn't have him. None of it was worth it.
"Paige?" Emma called when she tried talking to her again and didn't receive a response. She noticed how quiet Paige was being and the brooding look on her face.
Paige was pulled away from her thoughts and looked back at Emma. "What?"
Dean let out a laugh, "she wasn't even listening to you." Emma rolled her eyes jokingly before placing a hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking.
"I asked if you have any plans for tonight. Since Dean misses going out with Seth and Roman so much, I thought maybe we could take him out and make him feel better." Emma grinned as she looked down at Dean.
Paige pursed her lips to the side as she thought about it. She missed having fun and was tired of thinking about the whole Roman situation. Maybe this was a good idea. She shrugged. "Sure, why not."
Emma's grin widened with excitement. "Good, I was worried about him crying himself to sleep tonight because of how much he misses his boyfriends." She poked fun at him.
"Ow!" She shouted as she quickly pulled her hand away from his mouth. "You just bit me!"
Dean laughed at the reaction of the blonde diva. She grabbed one of the sofa's pillows lightly hit it on his very smug face. He was able to steal the pillow from her grip as they laughed and he refused to give it back.
Paige watched them and part of her wished she had what they had. They were happy.
It was the second and last night of the family visit and it wasn't as bad as Brie expected it to be. She and Nikki were able to spend time with their Nana, which they always enjoyed. The fallout of Brie's relationship with Roman only came up once while she was with her grandmother, but the topic didn't stay for long. Now she needed to tackle the last night of her trip home.
Brie was helping Nikki set up the table as their mom, Kathy, and brother, JJ, prepared to serve their meal for dinner. Not that there was much to prepare since Kathy wasn't much of a cook. She ordered takeout.
When the four of them were seated and eating, the discussion about Kathy's lack of cooking skills seemed to come to an end. Brie tried her hardest to be her normal self. She laughed, well at least she faked it, and contributed to the conversation. She was trying to be believable even though there were a million unwanted feelings and thoughts in her mind.
There was a moment of quietness between the four of them. The sounds of their forks hitting their plates as loud as ever. JJ cleared his throat before breaking the silence. "How are you doing, Brie? You know, after everything."
Without look up from her plate Brie responded, "Fine. Never been better."
Nikki shot her sister a look then shook her head, not believing a word she said.
"It's funny, the last time we were all eating dinner together, the two of you brought along two guys who ended up being nothing but assholes."
Brie sighed. She hoped this topic wouldn't come up but clearly she didn't hope hard enough. She just wanted to change the subject.
"It's so weird how much has changed since then." Nikki added. "Who would've thought Roman would end up being a cheating pig and Seth would be the liar who helped him cheat?"
"This is actually really good." Brie said about her food. Attempting to change the topic.
"I know right? It's this new place-" Kathy began.
"So is he and that woman, Paige, together? Or was it like a onetime thing?" JJ asked, causing Brie's attempt to change the topic to fail.
"Woman? You mean girl. She's like 22." Nikki said with disgust. "They were together for a long time I think. And Seth knew about it and never told either of us. I literally walked in on Paige and Roman together." Nikki spilled the details to her brother.
"Can we please just stop talking about this?" Brie finally requested.
JJ inhaled a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe he did that to you. What kind of man does that? When he was here, I talked to him and he sounded like he was ready to take your relationship to the next level. And I gave him my blessing to do so."
"Really? I didn't know about that." Kathy said, now curious and into the topic. Nikki's eyes widened when she heard JJ's words.
"Seriously? That just makes him even more disgusting. Just when I thought it was impossible." Nikki scoffed.
"I know it's nothing compared to what you must feel, but this whole thing really pissed me off. Because after the conversation I had with him, what he did was like a slap in the face." JJ told Brie.
Brie had her forehead resting in her palm as she stared down at the food in front of her. All she wanted was to eat dinner and not have to talk about Roman or Paige. Why couldn't anyone just respect that? And for some reason the more she heard them berate Roman, the more she fumed.
"You know what's funny?" Nikki began then pointed at Brie, who was sitting across from her. "It seems like everyone's angry and pissed off at Roman for what he did… except for her. Which is weird because she's the one who was hurt by him."
"Seriously, Nikki?" Brie said coldly as she glared at her.
"Wait, what? What, are you friends with him or something? After what he did?" JJ asked as he leaned back in his seat, making himself more comfortable as he delved into the conversation.
"No, I'm not-" Brie tried defending herself but was cut off once again. Only making her more frustrated.
"Oh no." Nikki answered for her. "She's still 'in love with him and misses him.'" Nikki said then raised an eyebrow at her sister.
"I'm not going to hate him and hold a grudge against him because he made a mistake-" Brie frustrations could now be heard in her voice.
"A mistake?" JJ scoffed. "That wasn't a mistake. It was a conscious decision that he made, knowing that it would hurt you. He chose to hurt you." JJ informed her as if it were all facts.
Brie subtly shook her head and looked up to the ceiling to try to hold back the tears caused by her frustrations.
Kathy looked at her then back to her other two children. "Hey, why don't we drop this conversation?"
"See, you keep saying you're fine but look at you. You can't even talk about it without getting emotional. You have a right to be angry and upset, Brie. You do not have to forgive him and act like what he did was okay. The man you 'love'" she said with air quotes, "is with someone else right now-"
"No, Nicole. He's not with someone else. And I'm not going to be angry or hold a grudge because it's a waste of my time and energy. I know him, and I know he's not a bad person. Like JJ said, he just made a bad decision." Brie told them.
"How are you defending him right now?! Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?" Nikki chastised her sister with her voice raised. Now she was getting frustrated.
"Nicole, enough." Kathy tried to cut in again.
"No, Mom. She's right. Brie, you do understand that the message you're sending right now is that cheating is okay, right?" JJ sided with Nikki.
"That is not what I said-" Brie tried to defend herself once more.
"Brie, this man cheated on you. He cheated on you for what, 6 months? And you're saying he's not a bad person and that it was a mistake?" Nikki said leaning forward against the table as she eyed her sister, trying to get it in her head.
"4 months." Brie corrected quietly.
"Oh yeah, because that makes it so much better." Nikki said sardonically as she leaned back and threw her hands up.
"I can't believe that you're actually trying to justify this right now, and that it's even an argument." JJ added in.
"It shouldn't be an argument because it has nothing to do with either of you. This is my life, why does everyone care so much?" Brie responded.
"Brie, you know that in this family, when one of us is down, we're all down. I'm not saying that I agree with the way Nikki and JJ are going about this, but we just want you to be okay." Kathy jumped in.
"Are you trying to say that the fact that I can forgive Roman and Paige means that something's wrong with me and that I'm not okay?"
"No, that's not-" Kathy tried to defend her statement.
"Yes, that's exactly what we're saying." JJ admitted. "Because the way you're talking right now, you make it sound like you'd jump back into a relationship with him after what he did to you. And that's concerning."
Nikki shook her head. "Brie, I seriously hope that you would never do that. I know you're all about saving the animals, but Roman is one filthy animal that does not deserve saving." Nikki said with an intense look her eyes as she spoke to Brie.
"He is an animal. And the fact that you defended his actions makes you an idiot." JJ added.
"I'm so done here." Brie couldn't take any more of this. She stood from the table and threw her napkin down as a stray tear escaped her eyes. She walked away from the table in a brisk manner. Soon after, the three left at the table felt their hearts jump at the sound of a door slamming shut.
"What is wrong with you two? I asked you to drop it. You had no right to talk to her the way you did, especially after everything she's been through." Kathy scolded them.
Nikki rolled her eyes. "I'll go talk to her." She started to get up from her chair, but stopped when Kathy stood up.
"No, you're going to give her space. I'll go talk to her." Kathy said then shot Nikki and JJ a look of disappointment that no daughter or son would want to receive from their mother.
"Brie?" Kathy knocked and said softly behind the bedroom door. She waited a moment and didn't receive a response. She slowly turned the doorknob and cautiously peeked her head into the room. There was her daughter, sitting on the edge of the bed with her face buried in her palms. "Brie." She sighed as she fully entered the room and shut the door behind her.
"Go away, I really don't want to talk to any of you right now." Brie said as she used her hands to wipe her tears.
Kathy walked towards her daughter and took a seat beside her on the bed. Brie rolled her eyes. Once again her requests were completely ignored.
"Brie, I'm so sorry about what happened out there. We were in the wrong for pushing the topic. But I just want you to know that it's because we care about you and your well-being." Her mom apologized.
"Well-being?" Brie scoffed with pain in her voice. "That doesn't exist for me anymore."
Kathy tilted her head to the side. "You said you were fine-"
"I lied." Brie cut her off. "I haven't been fine since before I found out about… you know what. I just said I was so people would stop talking to me about it. Because maybe if I didn't talk about it or think about it, it would help me forget about him so I could stop missing him so much." Brie admitted, feeling pathetic.
Her mom placed a comforting hand on her back and rubbed it. "Look Brie, it's going to take you time to completely move on from him. You were in love with him for so long, it's going to take time to stop."
Another tear fell down Brie's cheek. "How much time? Because I hate missing him so much and not being able to have him anymore. I hate that I can't remember the last time I had a full night of sleep. I hate that I don't feel comfortable in bed because I know that he should be there by my side. I just… I can't do this anymore." She shook her head then sniffled as she used the back of her hand to clear her face of tears.
"And the way JJ and Nikki talk about him and what happened, it makes me feel so ashamed for the way I feel. When I can't help it." Brie continued.
Kathy slightly furrowed her eyebrows at Brie's words. "What feeling are they making you ashamed of?"
Brie remained silent for a moment as she closed her eyes trying to stop the tears from filling them again. She sniffled again, "The feeling that without him, I will never be happy again." She said and even with her eyes closed, the tears still managed to escape.
Kathy released a heavy breath as she pulled her daughter close and hugged her. After holding Brie for a while, Kathy pulled away. She placed a hand on Brie's chin and lifted it before moving her hand to push stray strands of hair out of her face.
"Brianna, you will be happy. Your heart is going to lead you to happiness. All you have to do is follow it." She tried to give her solace with a reassuring smile.
Brie slightly nodded before once again wiping her face with her hands.
Dean, Emma, and Paige went out but the place they went to was just bland. It was the middle of the week, there weren't many people there. Too quiet for their tastes. But of course that wasn't an entirely bad thing. That meant there wasn't much wait time at the bar, the three of them could make fools out of themselves without much worry of who saw, and Paige- well Paige was enjoying herself more than she had planned to. She was tired of feeling, angry, sad, guilty, everything. She wanted, just for even a few moments, to just not feel. Though drinking to get numb wasn't the healthiest thing in the world, it was working. Or it was just masking everything. At this point she couldn't tell.
"What are you doing? This is embarrassing. You call that dancing?" Dean laughed as he watched Paige move around with her drink in hand.
"Sorry Sir, I can't hear you over the sound of me not caring." She spoke loudly with her accent more prominent than when she was sober.
Dean sat on the stool of the bar as he shook his head at the diva and laughed as she and Emma danced to the music.
"Instead of judging us, why don't you get off your butt and join us?" Emma said as she grabbed hold of his hand and tried to pull him off of his seat.
Dean chugged down the rest of his drink before giving in to Emma's pull. The women laughed and clapped at Dean's movements, which he liked to call his version of breakdancing. Emma shook her head and grabbed hold of his hands and stuck them up to his sides. "You have to represent the Emmalution" She laughed as she starting pulling Deans arms out side to side, forcing him to do her signature dance.
Paige finished her drink as she took a step back from the couple and watched them laugh and fool around with each other. She bit her bottom lip as she rolled her eyes, once again feeling like a third wheel. And she could admit to herself that it wasn't only the feeling like a third wheel thing that was bothering her; seeing Emma and Dean so happy made her feel- she wasn't even sure what It was. Jealous? She was happy for them but wanted to be happy for herself too. With everything going on in her life with Roman, she was far from happy.
She inhaled a deep breath and said goodbye to the numbness that only lasted a little while. She turned to return back to the bar for a refill. She stumbled a couple of times, but caught herself and laughed it off.
She plopped herself down onto the stool and leaned against the bar top. "Hey!" She called out to get the bartender's attention. He gave her a nod to acknowledge her and let her know that he'd tend to her next.
She leaned back onto her seat and fiddled with the empty glass in front of her. All of a sudden her mood seemed to completely change. Probably one of the effects of the alcohol that was in her system.
She looked up from her empty glass when she felt the presence of the bartender in front of her. He was eyeing her, his eyes squinted. Paige furrowed her eyebrows. "What?" She asked defensively.
"Nothing." The young bartender smiled in response. "What can I get for you this time?"
Paige watched him for a moment before responding. "Surprise me." She said. He nodded once. "But make it strong. Please." She requested.
He looked at her again the same way he was doing before, and it began to bother. Paige leaned against the bar top and squinted her eyes. "Okay, Ian..." She said obnoxiously, reading the name off of the name tag that was attached to his chest. "I know why you're looking at me like that." She said sure that he had seen her in the media for cheating with Roman. She was a WWE Diva after all.
Ian chuckled as he bent down to grab a bottle to continue making the batch of drinks that were ordered. "I'm just wondering who the idiot is that broke your heart." He said as his eyes remained focused on what he was doing.
Paige furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side feeling confused. "What?" Okay, maybe hadn't seen the story.
He walked away from her for a moment to deliver the drinks he made for the people who ordered before Paige. When he returned back to her he moved on to working on her drink. "I've worked here for a while. I can read people. I've seen many women come in here, just like you after a heart break. I don't know what it is about you all, but I can just tell." He said as he mixed the drink.
Paige raised an eyebrow and was ready to respond but was distracted when she noticed Dean and Emma had taken seats next her, Emma sitting between her and Dean.
Paige looked back at Ian as he placed her drink in front of her. Beside it, he placed a water bottle. "Don't forget to stay hydrated." He told her with concern after the amount of drinks she consumed. He eyed her again for a moment. "Whoever he is, it's totally his loss. He's missing out on something special." He shot her a charming, yet reassuring, smile. Paige stared at him skeptically. "This one's on the house by the way." He told her before removing himself from her presence.
Paige turned to face Emma when she felt her hand on her arm. "Was he- oh my gosh, he was flirting with you!" Emma declared with excitement.
Paige, not being in her normal state of mind after the amount of drinks she had, completely dismissed Emma's words. She was too caught up in the bartender's statements.
"Did you know that Ian over there can read minds?" She began to blather. "He is so right!" She said as she slammed her hand down onto the bar top.
"What are you rambling about?" Dean asked leaning forward so he could see the intoxicated diva behind Emma.
"Keep up Dean. I'm talking about Roman." She responded. "Ian's right, he is missing out. You know why? Because he did break my heart. Because he's an idiot." Paige said then took a sip of her drink. She made a face to express how strong it was. "He's also a jerk." She added.
"Paige, we don't have to talk about-" Emma began.
"He told me that he loves me during sex, or maybe it was before? But he got pissed off because I didn't say it back. Even though he told me that I didn't have to." She informed them. "It's not my fault. I have never been in love before, well- I'm kind of in love with wrestling, but that's not the point right now. It's still new to me and weird. So excuse me for being a little scared of it. I mean, he hurt Brie, how do I know that he wouldn't do the same to me?" She continued to prattle, her accent thicker than usual mixed with slurs.
"I wish he would've just given me more time. I was afraid of being in love with him but I don't even care anymore. I just want him. And all of the bullshit and pain that comes along with the package. Wow, I'm so pathetic." She said then let out a laugh.
Emma wasn't really sure what to say, she knew that if Paige was sober she would never reveal so much about her feelings. "Paige, I think you're a little drunk. Maybe we should talk about this later-"
"I'm not drunk, I'm perfectly fine." Paige said in defense before talking a few gulps from her drink.
Emma turned to look at Dean with concern. "Actually I lied. I'm a liar. I'm not fine. I'm heartbroken because I fell in love with a jerk." She continued to expose herself.
"Paige, I'm sorry-" Emma tried consoling her as she put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.
She looked up at Dean and Emma and shook her head. "I'm in love with Roman frickin' Reigns and he is the biggest jerk I've ever known. I'm gonna tell him that-" She said, her voice louder.
"Alright, relax, drunk Casper." Dean told her with a chuckle.
"Hey, Ian!" Paige called out to the bartender who was tending to other customers. "Cheers! To all of the pathetic broken hearts who've walked into here!" She shouted at him as she raised her glass in the air so fast that the drink was thrown out of it, spilling down her arm, most of it landing elsewhere.
"Paige!" Emma shouted as she stood to her feet and wiped her eyes before pulling her soaked hair off of her skin.
Paige turned to face Emma and her eyes widened before she covered her mouth to hold her laughter. "I swear I did not mean to that." She said with amusement on her face. She looked at the mostly empty glass that was still in her hand.
"Paige, you're a mess. I think we should go." Emma advised, clearly not as amused as Paige was.
Dean wanted to side with the blonde but he couldn't hide the fact that it was pretty funny. "C'mon, she's just having a good time. It was an accident." Dean said trying to hold his laughter. He failed.
"Dean, I don't want to ruin the fun, but when she finds out about the stuff she's said, she's not going to be happy. She never told me any of that. I don't think she intended to." Emma said trying to fend for her friend.
"Alright, Mom." Dean chuckled with his hands up showing that he gave up.
"Mom? Really, Dean?" Emma laughed.
Dean grinned as he wrapped in arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. "I'm kidding, Blondie." He said before planting a kiss on her wet hair. He pulled away looked down at her. "Your hair smells like liquor and berries. I like it."
Emma smiled and rolled her eyes, "Of course-"
Paige cut in on their moment. "Hey." She said and raised an eyebrow. "Stop being so cute, it's weird. Get a room."
Emma laughed and shook her head. "I don't think that'll be necessary. Trust me."
Paige looked at Dean for his input and just received a shrug back. "Alright, let's get you out of here before you throw another drink at someone." She said as she placed her hands on Paige's shoulders and forced her to turn around. Emma directed the way to the door and made sure Paige had her to lean on in case she stumbled.
Dean followed behind but was still hung up on Emma's response to Paige's comment. He was probably just thinking about it way harder than necessary.