Katie had been lying in Punk's bed on his tour bus for about ten minutes, falling in and out of sleep before finally deciding to get up and out of bed. It was Monday, which meant another Raw, just a few days after Katie had found all the comments about her on the internet. To say she didn't really care for them wasn't really true. No matter how hard she tried not to care, she couldn't help but keep thinking about them in the back of her mind. It didn't help, either, that she had accidentally blurted out her feelings to AJ, who then told John, who decided to talk to her about it. It was as if everyone around her who was close to her knew...except for her own boyfriend. She didn't want to bore him with her troubles. She knew the comments weren't a big deal, but even she could admit she wasn't acting the same since she saw them, and she had a feeling Punk was catching on.

She tied her hair up into a messy bun and opened the sliding door, walking through the cramped bus to the front where Punk was laying down on the couch and Kofi was eating some breakfast. She soon realized that Punk was Skyping with Colt Cabana, so she kneeled down to screen level so she could wave and say hi to him. She still hadn't met Colt face-to-face but had talked to him numerous times over Skype – they were already friends, though they had yet to actually meet in person.

"He's got a surprise for us. He didn't want to tell me until you were awake," Punk said, looking between the computer screen and his girlfriend. "What is it you have to tell us? Did you finally put on a new pair of underwear?"

"HEY!" Colt objected as he watched Katie laugh in the background. "Says the guy who lives out of a suitcase and on a bus!"

"Yet this bus is still cleaner than your apartment..." Punk mused.

"Anyways," Colt moved on. He cleared his throat dramatically. "I, Scott 'Colt Cabana' Colton, have accumulated enough money to visit you folks the week you are in Miami!"

Punk's mouth gaped open and Katie began to clap excitedly with a giant smile on your face. "I finally get to meet you!" she yelled.

"Dammit Colt! You know exactly how to brighten my whole god damn week!" Punk smiled, clearly excited that he was going to finally see his best friend after a long absence. "I'm supposed to be a grumpy asshole, remember? People can't see me happy!"

"Cry me a river," Colt said. "I'll make you smile so much you'll get premature wrinkles." Punk flashed him the finger before Colt turned his attention to Katie. "Are you excited, doll?" he asked.

"Super excited. I can't wait for all the shenanigans we're going to get into," she smiled. "There's only one rule: no fucking with my camera."

"But I'm so good looking!"

"You'll break the lens! They aren't cheap you know!"

"Fine. I'll adhere to that rule. I guess I should give my one rule too. No leaking videos of me drunk on the internet. I have a serious image to uphold, you know."

"But I'll make so much money!"

"My mother will kill me!"

Punk tilted his head back and laughed at the banter between his best friend and girlfriend. Never in a million years did he think he would find a girl who could keep up with Colt and who would have the same sense of humour as they did. He guessed having four older brothers helped her with understanding male humour, but she was so at ease with it, it almost shocked him.

"Anyways, I'm gonna go get ready. You two have fun catching up on all your gossip," Katie announced as she said goodbye to Colt. She stood up and ruffled Punk's hair affectionately before retreating to the bedroom again.

Xxxxx

A couple of hours later Punk's bus finally arrived at the hotel where all the superstars were staying. He and Kofi Kingston got off the bus first and signed some autographs for the fans waiting. Katie had managed to make up an excuse to stay inside the bus longer, so that nobody saw her emerging from the bus. She didn't want any more tweets or pictures being snapped of her getting off of Punk's bus, and rumours flying around that she was now having threesomes with him and Kofi. When the driver drove the bus around to the back of the hotel, she finally got off and walked into the hotel, meeting Punk and Kofi in the lobby. Kofi had gotten his key card early, so he said bye to the two before going up to his room for a nap before the show. She looked around her to see if any fans were watching, and in that time she felt Punk grab her hand and intertwine his fingers with hers.

He noticed she kept shifting her eyes and moving her head to look around. "Are you okay?" he asked as they were waiting for the receptionist to activate their key cards.

"Yeah, I'm good," Katie said unconvincingly, still feeling as if people were watching her. She hated this feeling – this feeling of hesitance, especially around her boyfriend.

"Are you looking for someone or something?" he asked, still not convinced that nothing was wrong with her. "I'm sure AJ's already in her room. Text her and see if she's here." When she just nodded her head and kept looking around, he started to become a bit frustrated. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again. "You've been acting a bit weird lately," he admitted. "I'm starting to think something's up with you, and I don't like it."

As Katie was about to respond, a man walking through the lobby screamed "BEST IN THE WORLD!" and threw his arms up in the air. Katie immediately snapped her whole body away from Punk, including the hand that he was holding so firmly. Punk looked in the direction of the man who yelled and gave him a thumbs up before the man walked out of the hotel, completely harmless. Punk looked back at Katie and noticed that he wasn't holding on to her hand anymore because she had pulled away so violently. He looked at her in astonishment, but of course she didn't see it – she was still too busy looking at her surroundings.

"Here is your key card, Mr. Brooks," the overly-chirpy receptionist said. "To your left are the elevators. Have a great stay."

Punk thanked the receptionist and without another word to Katie he began walking away with his luggage, upset she had done such a thing. Something was obviously bothering her, and the fact that she wasn't telling him made him angry. They weren't supposed to keep things from each other.

They rode up the elevator in silence, Katie looking at Punk the entire time, trying to get him to look at her, but to no avail. He kept his head down and avoided eye contact with her until he got his emotions in check and didn't yell at her. When they finally got to their room and set their luggage down on the floor, Punk turned to her and put his hands on his hips. "What was that back there?" he asked calmly.

"What was what?" she asked, pretending to be oblivious, though she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Don't play that game with me," he said, more harsh than he intended. "Why did you pull away from me like that?"

"The guy's outburst just scared me, that's all," she tried to play it off. "It was a natural, human reaction to when someone screams something so loud, so unexpectedly."

"I said don't play that game with me," he said harshly again, not believing her for a second. "Do you not want to be seen in public with me or something?" he asked.

"Oh, give me a break," Katie rolled her eyes, not wanting to get into this.

She bent down and to open her suitcase but Punk immediately walked up to her and pulled her back up. "No, we are going to talk about this," he demanded. "What's been up with you lately? And don't you dare say nothing, or else you'll be insulting my intelligence."

Katie tried to find the right words so she wouldn't offend him, but she knew no matter what she said, he would be offended anyway. "I just...I didn't really appreciate you outing me as your girlfriend at the press conference. I'd rather be known as a photographer to the fans, not as your girlfriend."

"That's what this is about?" he asked.

"It just bothered me, okay? Now people are going to be all over me. People are leaving crude comments on the blog now and dirt sheets are writing up stories about me. It's a lot to take in," she admitted.

"You're worried about what little twelve year olds are saying on the internet?" Punk asked rhetorically, not believing that his girlfriend would let something so insignificant get to her. "Katie, there's a reason people call them internet trolls."

"You don't get it," she almost snapped at him. "They're not just saying stupid shit that I can laugh off. They're calling me a slut. They're saying I'm your latest conquest and that you'll move on to the next hot ring-rat you see. They're saying I slept my way to this position by fucking Randy, who's married and has a kid. Half of them think I've already fucked Cena, and that they keep me around to make him 'happy'. He showed me tweets from fans asking him to 'confirm my numbers' and asking whether or not -"

"Wait wait wait, Cena sent you texts about this?" Punk asked, now absolutely livid, though he didn't show it.

"Just a couple, but that's beyond the point," Katie said. "I don't want people thinking I slept my way into this position. I want them to appreciate the photography, like they were doing before they found out I was dating you. I'm not saying I don't want to be seen in public with you. I just want our relationship to be about us. I don't want them intervening and writing stories about it. I just...I just don't want things to get out of control."

Punk sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes. "You can't listen to what they're saying, Katie. It was bound to get out eventually. We just have to make the best of it."

"I know. I just never imagined it would get this type of reaction," she said.

"Do you think you're a slut?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" Katie asked, not knowing where he was going with this.

"Do you think you're a slut?" he repeated.

"Of course not," she responded.

"Do you think that I love you?" he asked again.

"I know that you love me."

"So if someone, even someone as close to you as AJ, or fuck, even Ziggler for that matter, came up to you and said, 'I don't think Phil is in love with you', would you believe them?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I know they'd be wrong, and I know in my heart of hearts that you love me."

"Why does it matter then? If you know in the bottom of your heart that what these people are saying is untrue and complete bullshit, why do you let it affect you?" Punk asked, making his point clear to Katie. "You know that you're not a slut, and you know that you worked your ass off to get this job without anyone's help, so what does it matter what people say about you when you know and you're confident in the truth?"

When she realized his point and couldn't answer him, she let a sob escape her that she was bottling up inside. "I'm sorry," she said, tears streaming down her face as she sat down on the edge of the bed, unable to stand anymore. Punk kneeled down in front of her and began wiping the tears with his thumbs. "I just didn't know how to react and -"

"Shhhh, it's okay," Punk said, kissing her quickly before wiping some more tears. "I love you, and nothing or no-one can persuade me otherwise. I know this is new for you and I'm here to help you. But you need to learn that people are going to say things, hurtful things. They're going to want to tear you apart. You need to develop a thick skin or else they'll eat you alive."

Katie kissed him again and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. He kissed her neck a few times before picking her up from the bed and standing up. "You should take a nap so you're energized for tonight," he said, laying her down on the bed and lying down next to her. "Try not to think about it. I don't want you upset over this. I want you to feel like you can do whatever you want without having to be scared that someone is going to write a story about it," he said, wiping some more tears away as they faced each other in bed.

"I love you, Phil," she whispered as she closed her eyes softly. Within minutes her breathing began to soften, and Punk knew she was asleep.

He moved slowly off the bed and put on his shoes. He remembered to take a key card with him as he left the room, taking one more look at Katie curled up on the bed before closing the door and making his way towards the end of the hallway. Suites were always at the end of the hallway, and the top superstar of the company always got a suite.

"How was the ride in?" Cena asked once he opened the door and saw Punk on the other side.

"I need you to back off," Punk said immediately, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Cena looked taken aback by his statement. "What do you mean?"

"I don't need you sending my girlfriend tweets and texts about what idiots are saying about her on the internet. I've got her crying in our hotel room because of it," Punk said sternly. "What you did was completely uncalled for."

"Whoa whoa, I didn't mean for it to happen. I was just as shocked as she was -"

"This isn't about you!" Punk yelled at one of his best friends, his temper getting the best of him. "You're sending her texts about people calling her a slut, asking you if she's slept with you, to 'confirm her numbers'?! Do you really think that's appropriate?!"

"I -"

"You know how she is with that sort of stuff, John, especially with her past and everything that's happened with her mother," Punk chastised him. "Why would you even show it to her? Do you really think she'd take to it lightly?"

"I didn't mean to make her upset," John finally got a word in.

"Well, you've made her upset. So much so that now she's scared to even be seen in public with me." Punk inhaled deeply, trying to get his anger in check. "I just...just back off, okay? She doesn't need this."

Punk made his way back to the door, opening it, ready to leave. "I'm sorry," John said. Punk knew he meant it, but he was still upset.

"It's a little too late for that," he said, looking at John over his shoulder. He closed the door behind him, leaving John standing in his hotel suite, trying to pick up some of the pieces of the mess.