For the second time that night, Dean Ambrose found himself tired, sweaty, and out of breath. Alexa had jumped him almost before he could even get the door closed, and the two quickly became one big pile of elbows and red-highlighted hair. Normally, the two young lovers stayed in a familiar geographical pattern, tending mostly to make love in either Alexa's bed or occasionally in the shower. This time, however, Alexa seemed determined to test the structural integrity of most of the furniture in her room and in the common area. She'd taken him into the kitchen, jumped on the counter and wrapped her legs around her boyfriend, asking him to do things he'd done before, but in a vernacular that was entirely new, coming from her. That was just the first of many stops on a whirlwind tour of "quality time" the likes of which Dean hadn't experienced at all with his tiny minx. It was SO out of character for Alexa that Dean was convinced something was up. He didn't know if her body had been taken over by one of those sex crazed aliens, like in Species, or if she'd had too much to drink, or what the deal was, but clearly Alexa wasn't the same woman she'd been a week ago. Dean wasn't sure whether to worry or just enjoy the ride.

Now she laid next to him, fast asleep, wearing only a t-shirt of his that she'd thrown on once she was sure she was through being naked for the time being. Her serene face gave no hint of the sex-hungry demon she'd transformed into earlier. Her head pressed tightly against Dean's chest, and her body docked with his perfectly, as though she'd been designed specifically to fit there. Dean HATED taking the chance of waking her up, but right now he had pressing matters. Namely, a visit to the bathroom and maybe a fresh beer. With as much stealth as he could muster in his still intoxicated, post-coital state, Dean slid off the edge of the bed and crept into Alexa's hallway. He'd heard Alexa say that Nia was over at Titus's last night, since he lived off campus, and Dean REALLY hoped he wasn't just making that up. Clad only in a clean pair of athletic shorts, Dean crept toward the bathroom. After taking care of his business there, Dean looked to make sure Alexa was still asleep, then shuffled almost silently toward the couch. Lex could be a pretty heavy sleeper, especially when she was drunk, but Dean didn't want to take ANY chances where his now- satiated girlfriend was concerned.

He slumped onto Alexa's couch, unsure of his next move. He'd hoped to get to the bottom of Alexa's new outlook before succumbing to her...charms, but, as it turned out, Miss Bliss knew his biggest weakness; a beautiful woman pulling his shorts down with her teeth. He snickered to himself. That was...something else he'd never seen from Lex. He wasn't saying he didn't like it, but he WAS growing more curious by the second. Dean made the first decision he'd made alone in several hours; he was getting another beer. Quietly, he pushed himself up from the sofa, crept into the kitchen, and grabbed a couple of cold domestics. Alexa was on his mind. But, she was fast asleep, and Dean hoped she'd stay that way for a while yet. So, rather than choosing to worry at that moment, he turned the tv on softly and caught the highlights from the sporting events he'd missed that day.

Dean was most of the way through his second beer, had his feet propped up on the coffee table, and was drifting back to sleep when he heard Alexa's door creak open. He listened as she walked into the bathroom, then noticed that when the door opened a minute or two later, he didn't detect any walking sounds. He peered over his shoulder and noticed Alexa standing, silently looking at him.

"Hey," he murmured, trying not to startle her.

Her answer came in even more quietly. "Hey babe."

Dean sensed that something was on her mind. He turned again and gave her the softest version of that half-smile that he could muster. "C'mere," he continued, extending his arm toward Alexa. She traipsed slowly around the couch and came to rest on his lap, her legs sticking out to the side from him. He gave her a "once over", noting that she looked worn out, AND that she'd put on some jogging shorts before leaving her room. Lex laid her head on Dean's shoulder, and he noticed for the first time how truly content he felt when she was close to him.

"Hey babe, what's going on with you?" He gently cupped her chin under his hand, forcing her to make eye contact. "You've been acting...different lately. Not bad. Just different."

Alexa nodded, and wiped a forming tear from her eye. "I know. Part of it….part of it is I feel like I have to keep you interested."

Dean straightened his posture, mildly surprised by what he was hearing. "What do you mean, Lex?"

She sniffed, sat up, and continued. "Well, like, you dated SO many girls in high school. The guys make jokes about it. And it sounds like they all just couldn't wait to jump you."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, that didn't suck." Alexa punched his arm playfully and rolled her eyes while Dean lightly shoved her with his hand.

Lex wasn't done. "And before you, you could count my number of total consensual encounters on two hands. And you'd barely need the second one…."

She trailed off. Dean knew where this was going, and it was absolute nonsense. "Hey," he returned, seeking eye contact again. "Knock that shit off. You have NOTHING to prove to me. Honestly?" He paused, trying to form his next words carefully. "I'm interested in you because of who you are, not because of who you are in there." He gestured haphazardly towards Alexa's room. "I meant what I said a couple weeks ago about always being willing to move at your pace."

Alexa nodded. "I know, but it seems like the last week or so I've been so 'up and down' with my feelings. Like, for real, I saw you running into Strongbow shirtless and ALL I could think about was how hot you looked and I instantly became this lust-crazed party monster." Dean chuckled at this description, and Alexa slapped him on the arm again. "It's not funny," she groaned. "When we got to the field all I could think about was jumping you ASAP. Then I saw you talking to that bleach-blonde dick garage Mandy and I contemplated a double homicide." She drew a breath while Dean got a good laugh from the phrase "dick garage."

"Stop laughing," she insisted, not yet done trying to make her point. She wiped another tear, trying to maintain composure, and pulled Dean in for a short kiss. "I love you. A lot. And I can't bear the thought of not being with you."

Dean started softly rubbing Alexa's back, gently urging her to get everything off her chest.

"Lex, no one's talking about not being with you. Where is this coming from?"

Lex sighed again, the tears coming a little faster now. "I don't know babe. I really don't. I just feel so emotionally unstable right now. Like, one minute I'm fine and the next minute I'm Courtney Love."

Dean snickered at this comparison. "As long as you don't kill me and then make it look like a suicide…"

Alexa shrugged her shoulders. "If Mandy keeps her hands off I won't have to."

Dean considered saying something snarky, but he could tell Alexa was serious. "What did I tell you, like, just a few days ago? I have it made, why would I want to ruin this?"

Much to Dean's chagrin, Alexa burst into tears. "I don't know. Maybe one day you come over and decide you're sick of me and leave me for that fake tit bimbo."

Dean shook his head. "They're fake, really?"

Alexa shot him a death glare. "Not important right now, dingus. But yes. Super fake." She started lightly running her hands through Dean's unruly hair, stopping periodically to dab her eyes with her t-shirt. "What I mean is, like, this is uncharted territory for both of us. This is the longest relationship you've ever been in. And, it's the first one I've been in since high school that didn't involve me getting treated like absolute shit. So, maybe I have less 'experience' than what is considered normal, but that's not entirely my fault."

Dean wanted to ask what he had to do to show Alexa that he wasn't going anywhere, but he knew, as her boyfriend, that was something he had to figure out on his own. There was one method he'd seen his adopted dad use that he thought might apply here: retail diversion.

"Babe?"

"Yeah?" Alexa wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"So, I got this mixer thing at BPO. First of all, would you do me the honor of coming with me?"

Alexa grinned, the type of smile Dean hoped for from her on a daily basis. "Why Dean, are you asking me to your fraternity function?"

Dean gave her his best "cat ate the canary" grin. "Yes. Yes I am."

Alexa kissed him again lightly. "I would love to."

Dean continued smiling. "Good, because if you said 'no' it was gonna be a bitch to track Mandy down on such short notice…"

Dean's smile turned into a look of pain as Alexa pinched him on his arm.

"Ow Ow Ow OW!"

Alexa smiled. "That's what you get, jerk."

"Yeah, I probably deserved that. Anyway," He pulled Lex close to him, "we have to wear like, appropriate costumes or whatever. It's the 'Roaring 20's' or some shit."

Alexa's face lit up. "'Dappers and Flappers'. I've wanted to go to that party since I was a freshman."

"They do it every year?"

"Yes, it's BPO tradition!"

Dean smirked at the childlike excitement on his girl's face. Giving his best impression of a 1920's New York broker, Dean said. "Well, baby doll, looks like I'll have to take ya on the town. We need costumes, and we have exactly one day to get them. Looks like it's Manhattan or bust, baby."

Alexa lit up. "You're taking me shopping in New York City tomorrow?"

Dean nodded. "Yep. I need a suit and you," he gave her another look up and down, "you're just going to be the hottest flapper this town has ever seen."

Alexa batted her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. "You think so?"

Dean chuckled. "I sure do, babe. So, be ready at 7:30 PM. We're going as soon as I get showered after practice."

Alexa giggled and nodded coyly. "I'm so excited, Dean. This is seriously the nicest thing anyone's done for me in a long time." She drew Dean in with both arms, giving him one of the hugs he loved so much. Then she pulled his face to hers and kissed him. Hard. "Thank you."

Dean smiled. "You're worth it, babygirl."

Alexa grinned again. "I know."


Zack Ryder woke up with his girlfriend's face nuzzled into his chest and his phone absolutely erupting with notifications. He reached towards his nightstand with his good arm and peered into the screen, his eyes struggling to focus. He read the manic series of texts from Dean, telling him of his intention to take Alexa into the city to go shopping for costumes and would he and Bayley like to go? Zack grinned. That was a fantastic idea, and maybe a trip into NYC would take Bayley's mind off of blaming herself for Zack's accident. "In fact," Zack opined to himself, "this might give me a chance to combine a couple things I'd planned." Zack was hoping to whisk Bayley away to New York City in a limo sometime in the next week or so to do something special for her.

Dean. That's a great idea. But what if we took the girls in a limo?

Zack waited a few seconds for his reply.

Great fuckin' idea, except where can we get a limo on 12 hrs notice?

Zack snickered. Clearly Dean didn't know him well enough yet to understand that his parents had connections that ran deep in both NYC and Boston. Scoring a limo by 7 PM would be child's play. The more difficult part would be getting his mom to let him use her account at Monsoon's Costumers off of 42nd street. But Zack was pretty sure he could make that work, too.

Bro, leave it to me. Be ready after practice. I'll take care of it.

Dean shrugged. If Zack was so confident, let him take care of it.

Dean had a question for Zack: So, how many can I invite? Charlotte and Ro don't have costumes yet either.

Cool. Invite them.

Dean grimaced. This was going to be the hard part. He'd made an inner decision after "poultry night" to try to mend fences with Seth, and he knew inviting everyone but him would be perceived by Seth as him being knocked down a peg, but he also knew Zack wouldn't take very kindly to Seth being involved. Still, Dean decided, he had to try.

Man, I gotta invite Seth too. I promise to stay on his ass and make sure he doesn't fuck with you and Bayley. It might actually help to pretend it's no big deal.

Dean waited for what seemed like a small eternity. He came to wonder if he had crossed a line in asking Zack to invite Seth after he was being so generous.

After a few more minutes, Dean's phone lit up.

Bay says it's fine, so I guess…

Dean glanced at the little goddess curled up on his lap; She must've fallen back asleep at some point when Dean was texting back and forth with Zack. No matter, she looked beautiful when she was asleep in his arms. It really was nothing short of a miracle that he had her. Dean mentally cursed himself for letting such Ryan Gosling rom-com-esque thoughts enter his mind.

Deciding to call it a night, even though it was close to 5 am, Dean shot Roman and Seth twin text messages.

After practice meet behind practice field. costume shopping 4 BPO party on thursday.

Locking his screen and tossing it to the opposite side of the couch, Dean wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and attempted to get some sleep before his study group.


Seth hadn't gone to bed after the BPO party ended. He was drunk, wallowing in his own self pity, and just looking for someone who was unfortunate enough to listen to his intoxicated rambling. A lot of things were on his mind: AJ, BPO, football, Dean and Roman, but Dana most of all. The look she gave him the night she went home with AJ stuck in his mind. Maybe she was silently asking him to stop her, maybe she was silently telling him to shove it up his ass, or maybe he had hit the bottle too hard and was overthinking everything.

Seth wandered for what seemed like hours. At this point, class was the last thing on his mind. What he knew he needed at that moment was something caffeinated and something else extremely greasy and preferably deep fried. It didn't phase Seth how far he had walked until he stopped seeing the tall buildings on campus and started walking through a more rural area. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a large fluorescent sign that simply read: " Casa de Vega: Open 24 Hours." Giving in to the growling in his stomach and aftermath of a night of drinking Seth figured it was worth a shot.

The inside was about what Seth expected. It closely resembled a chain of diner's that he heard was recently ditched and dined a few days prior. There was only one other person there; A lone man sitting at the bar drinking a glass of orange juice.

"Take a seat wherever you want, sir," Called a bodiless voice. "A server will be right with you."

Seth chose the booth closest to him. It occurred to him, when he sat down, just how tired his legs were. He must've walked further into town, because he did not recognize the area surrounding the diner.

"Coffee, sir?"

Seth turned his focus to the young woman standing over him with a pot of coffee. She must've been close to his age, maybe a little younger. She had black hair and tanned skin, but what caught Seth's eye was her exponential beauty. She was pretty, Seth took notice of that right away, and he couldn't help but wonder why her smile was so infectious.

Seth, once realizing he was staring, nodded his head and held up his coffee cup. "Sure. Thanks."

"Rough night?" The waitress asked, friendly smile still on her face.

Seth chuckled. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."

"Well the coffee is extra strong today. I'll try to help make your day better."

Seth smiled, not being able to help it anymore. "Thanks. Where are you from? I love that accent."

"New York. My dad's from Mexico so I got a little Spanish accent too."

Seth took a sip of the warm coffee. "I like it. Coffee's great too, by the way."

The waitress gave Seth another smile. "I'll be back to take your order in a few minutes."

Seth watched the girl walk away, not being able to keep himself from staring at her exquisite features. "Damn, she's fine," he mused to himself. He wasn't sure she was any taller than Alexa, but she had a huge smile and appeared to be of a genuine and kind nature, "although," he admitted to himself, "she could be working me for a tip."

Seth enjoyed his coffee for another minute before his server came back. Seth found himself in the middle of that delicate dance where one tries to read a female server's name tag without looking like a pervert.

"Did you decide what you wanted?" She asked.

Seth stopped his attempt at seeing her name tag for now. "Yeah, the spinach and mushroom omelette. With a side of bacon please."

The girl nodded her head like she was impressed with Seth's order. "Ah, I like your taste. That's my favorite. Aside from the bacon."

"You're not that kind of person that's gonna tell me how bad of a guy I am for eating bacon, right?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I need a tip." She gave a wink at the end to show she was just joking.

Seth nodded his head and smirked. "Well, uh…" Seth trailed off, hoping she would pick up on his cue.

"Zelina," she grinned. "Zelina Vega."

Seth smiled and nodded again. "Zelina," He decided to press his luck a little bit. "Hermosa, como la persona a quien pertenece."

Zelina took a step back, taken off guard by Seth's sudden forwardness. "Oh, well thank you…"

"Seth."

Zelina smiled while unsuccessfully hiding her bashfulness. "Seth, gracias por el cumplido. Apuesto a que a tu novia le gustas mucho."

"I don't have a girlfriend, but I'm sure you're right."

Zelina, once again speechless, simply smiled a beautiful smile and hurried away from Seth's table. Seth laughed quietly at the coy behavior of his attractive server. He checked his phone absentmindedly, seeing the invite from Dean to go with Alexa and he to New York City tonight. He really didn't want to, because Zack would be there, and because he was mildly irritated with Alexa and Charlotte for their roles in the destruction of his Impala. He texted Dean back, letting him know that he appreciated the invite and would come with them, and would try to get along with Zack, Lex, and Charlotte. He chuckled, rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back toward his server, who was carrying a steaming ivory dish toward him. Zelina slid the tray in front of him, allowing him a moment to take it in, then lowered herself into the other side of the booth, slightly surprising Rollins.

"So, Seth, what's your tale? What's a nice guy like you doing out at 5:34 AM?" She looked over at the clock, confirming the time.

Seth took a big bite of his omelette, nodding his approval. "This is really good." He caught the gaze of his server, processing her question. "So, tonight was 'poultry night' for the fraternity I'm pledging."

Zelina chuckled. "Is that why all those shit-faced dumbasses were in here earlier covered in eggs or whatever?"

Seth laughed. "Yeah, probably. I'm actually surprised I'm eating eggs now. Or ever again." Zelina laughed softly again, then rose quickly.

"Let me get you more coffee. That way my boss won't yell at me for sitting with you."

Zelina brought one of those big glass restaurant style coffee pitchers over to Seth's table and refilled his cup. She also brought him a water and more napkins.

"There. Now you have everything you might ask me for."

Seth chuckled. "Actually, do you have Cholula?"

Zelina grinned. "Of course."

She bolted up again, disappearing into a back section of the small diner. She emerged a minute or two later with a bottle of Seth's requested hot sauce, then re-took her seat across from him.

"So," she began again. "Nice boy. Late night. What happened?"

Seth didn't know why he was so willing to tell her the whole story. Upon reflection, he guessed it was because she was the one initiating the conversation AND because he didn't once feel like he was being judged. He began way back with the destruction of his car, what caused that, and his current outlook on his friends and their women. Zelina listened. She didn't offer much in the way of feedback. Not right away. Seth stopped to eat periodically, but otherwise maintained a steady stream of verbiage until his omelette was gone. Once he was done Zelina, having not had any other tables come in, apparently, quickly took his plate to the kitchen and returned. Seth was confused, as he hadn't seen Zelina take any tables since he'd gotten there.

"Hey, are you not supposed to be like, working or something?"

Zelina showed him that grin that he was beginning to appreciate more and more. "You were my last table, 'mano. I've been off for;" she looked up at the clock, which currently read 6:05, "5 minutes. So you have my undivided attention."

Seth chuckled. "So, after hearing all that, you must think I'm a real piece of shit."

Zelina giggled lightly. "No, I think you did a shitty thing. But don't let that make you believe that you're a shitty person because of that. We all do dumb stuff sometimes. But you can't let it beat you, you know?"

Seth shook his head and smiled ruefully. "I'm not. I think my friends are about done with me, but I just wish I could make everything go away, you know?"

Zelina nodded thoughtfully. "I do know. But sadly you can't make everything magically disappear. You have to face the consequences of your actions. Whether you want to or not."

Seth nodded his head slowly. "I'm just afraid my friends hate me."

"I'm sure they'll be surprised if you apologize. Then go from there."

"I wish it were that easy."

"Have you tried?"

Seth thought it over for a second. "No, I guess not."

"Then you know what to do," Zelina stood up from the table. "But I gotta get goin'. I have class in an hour."

"You go to SU?"

Zelina shook her head. "Next year. I'm a senior in high school."

Seth's mind suddenly felt guilty about checking out a high school girl.

"I almost forgot," Zelina slid Seth a slip of paper. "Your bill." After that, she walked back to the kitchen, out of Rollins' sight.

Seth checked the paper, but the thing that caught his eye was the ten digit phone number with a heart next to it. Seth chuckled to himself and saved the number in his phone. After leaving enough cash on the table to pay for his breakfast twice, Seth shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled quickly into the crisp fall morning air.


Ordinarily, Wednesdays moved pretty fast for Alexa. She loved her class, and checking in with her professor for her online hybrid class, but today she was just ready to be done with it. She could remember a time not too terribly long ago where she was getting smacked around daily. Now, she was constantly surprised by the thoughtfulness and generosity of her boyfriend. Dean's driver's license said he was eighteen, but Alexa thought of him as an old soul. It was a quick walk from her last class of the day to Poffo Hall. When she arrived to her room, Alexa dropped off her notebooks, said hi and bye to Nia, then left again to make it to cheerleading practice.

Practice was only hard because when weather permitted, the cheerleaders practiced outside, giving them a full view of football practice. Alexa struggled to pay attention to practice knowing Dean was so close, and that their immediate future held an evening of unique and unforgettable goings on. Practice ended much as it began, with a quick talk with AJ and Beth and an evil glare at Mandy. Then Alexa did something she usually made every attempt to avoid; she showered in the locker room. It wasn't that Alexa was like, morally opposed to it or anything, but she found that her past issues with body image tended to be at their most likely to rear their ugly head when he was at her most physically vulnerable. And, without being too dramatic, being naked in front of a dozen of the most fit girls in the school tended to leave one vulnerable. She powered through it, though, with AJ in the partition next to her joking with her the entire time helping her forget her situational anxiety. AJ even joked about this being "wayyyy less fun than the last time she was in the shower with a blonde." Alexa chuckled and rolled her eyes. She wrapped herself carefully with towels, then began her quick ritual of getting ready. It struck her as odd to be doing it twice in a day, but she didn't mind if it meant looking nice for this special evening. She applied just a bit of makeup, checked her outfit, an understated white long sleeve button-up shirt with black dress pants, and locked her bag with her practice clothes in her locker. She threw her purse over her shoulder, gave herself a final check in the mirror, and strode confidently into the cooling Stamford evening.

Alexa Bliss would've bet anything that once Dean had the idea to take her costume hunting in Manhattan, that he would've let that be the end of it. Dean was very often thoughtful and kind, but very rarely extravagant. That opinion was in jeopardy, however, as Alexa turned the corner behind the practice facility to see Dean perched on the hood of a black limousine, smug half-smile firmly in place. Alexa's face gave away her inner mixture of wonder and befuddlement as she picked up the pace toward her grinning boyfriend.

"Holy shit, Dean, you didn't have to do this."

Dean snickered. "Well, it wasn't just for us…"

His voice tailed off as the rear passenger door opened, revealing a grinning, slightly tipsy Bayley Martinez.

"Alexa, hey! It's like prom! Only this time my date wants to french me!"

Alexa chuckled. "Hey, Bay, been hitting the champagne a little early?"

Bayley giggled. "No." She hiccuped. "I hit the champagne exactly on schedule."

Alexa laughed heartily. "Well, I hope you saved me some."

Bayley nodded and smiled bigger. "There's a whole bar. It's like Robert Downey Jr.'s house in here."

Alexa walked toward the door Bayley came out of, looking back at Dean. "You coming, babe?"

Dean nodded again. "Yeah, but I'm making sure our other guests find us easily."

Alexa gave him a confused look. "Babe, it's a limo. I don't think they're going to confuse us with anyone else."

Dean gave her the most deadpan look he'd given anyone. "You never know. It could be Burt Reynolds or something."

Alexa rolled her eyes and gave Dean a playful middle finger. "I'm getting in the limo. Feel free to join me."

Alexa slid into one of the limo's expansive leather seats, noting that Zack appeared much more sober than Bayley, and smiled broadly at both of them. "Hey guys."

Zack nodded. "Hey Lex." Alexa smile grew even wider as Bayley handed her a glass flute filled with champagne.

"Here you go, Lex."

Alexa took the champagne flute from Bayley and sipped from it carefully.

"Mmmmm. I'm not sure if I've ever had champagne before, but this is REALLY good."

Bayley grinned and nodded her agreement. "Yeah, Zack says it's a really good brand." She looked at Zack for help with pronouncing the name of the champagne. "Don, Dom-"

Alexa cut her off, wide-eyed and excited. "Dom Perignon? Shit, Bay, this is like twelve hundred dollars a bottle!"

Bayley froze as Zack chuckled. She looked over at Zack. "Only the vintages from the twenties or something. This is…" he glanced at the bottle, "2009." He chuckled. "It's probably sixty dollars a bottle, so bottom's up."

Alexa nodded. "Cool." She drained her glass of the amber liquid, then her brain caught up. "Wait, how do you know that?"

Zack shrugged, trying to make his mastery of things like this seem like not a big deal. "Eh, my dad has some money. You end up hearing lots of stuff like that."

Bayley thought for a second about telling Alexa more about Zack's background and how he'd been able to get such great seats at the baseball game, but she'd sensed before that Zack didn't necessarily feel super comfortable when people talked about it, so she let it go.

Alexa held out her empty glass toward Bayley. "Hit me, Bay."

Bayley grinned and poured another helping of the liquid into her glass, giggling half-drunkenly with her friend.

When Roman emerged from the locker room with Seth behind him, he was unsurprisingly shocked to see a stretch limo parked alongside the curb. More surprising, their childhood best friend was sitting on the roof of said limousine with a bottle of champagne.

"Hey, fuckers," Dean hollered when his best friends got close to the limo. "I thought this'd be nice a touch. Champagne, drunk girls, we're all getting laid… Well, not all of us."

Roman chuckled at Seth's annoyed expression and Dean's joke. Seth shook his head and crawled into the limo, being engulfed in a few excited shouts and loud pop music.

"We gotta stop by Char's dorm. I guess she skipped out on practice, which is… Really unlike her."

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe you knocked her up and didn't know."

"Yeah, cuz I'm dumb enough to not wear a condom, right?"

Dean took a long drink from his bottle of champagne. "She's on the pill, amigo, I'm good," He hopped off the roof of the limo and handed the bottle over to Roman. "But, right now, we need to get our ladies some 1920's costumes."

Roman took a sip from the bottle of champagne. After deciding it was bearable, he took a long swig with a satisfied head nod. "Where are we going to do that exactly?"

"New York, red light district, maybe Times Square. I don't know, man."

"I don't think New York has a red light district. Besides, you have a girlfriend."

"I meant pot."

"Oh," Roman nodded his head and popped open the door to the limo. "Talk to Bray; He said he knows a guy."

Dean followed his friend into the limo. As soon as he sat down, Alexa dove into his lap and threw her arms around his neck with a deep kiss. "I *hic* am ready to go."

Dean glanced at Bayley with a huge smile on his face. "What have you done to my girlfriend?"

Bayley began giggling uncontrollably. Zack chuckled at his drunken mess of a girlfriend. "They found the champagne and haven't stopped drinking it since."

Almost on cue, Bayley crawled across the seat and came to rest on Zack's lap. "Zaaack, my prom date didn't kiss me. So you have to. *Hic*. Ok?"

"Alright," Dean slapped the glass divider between the passenger area and the driver. "We're ready to go…"

"Richard." Zack informed.

"Dick." Dean laughed then kissed the blonde cheerleader giggling in his lap.

Roman quickly joined his friends in the limo as it set off for Flair hall.


Charlotte paced around her dorm room, wondering if she applied the right amount of make-up for her trip to New York with Roman. This wasn't like her, being nervous about meeting up with a guy to go to New York with them. She had been to the Big Apple with her dad's work colleague's sons a million times but Roman was someone she really liked spending time with. She took another look in the mirror; Her lipstick was a sweet shade of pink, her eyes were shaded a color lighter than her normal skin tone, and her mascara was perfect. Her outfit of choice, blue jeans and a white t-shirt, was just the right amount of casual but attractive in her opinion.

"Char?"

Charlotte walked out of the bathroom. Roman was standing in the middle of her common room.

"Hey." Roman said with a chuckle. His eyes suddenly lit up as his jaw dropped slightly. "You look great, babe."

Charlotte smiled. "You are correct," She gave Roman a quick kiss on the lips then grabbed her purse and phone from the counter. "Are we taking my car?"

"Actually, Dean and Zack got a limo to take us."

Charlotte tilted her head. "Really? What a douche."

"What?"

"I've had so many billionaire brats show up to my house millions of times in limos, sports cars, and a helicopter once."

Roman feigned a look of disappointment on his face and sighed. "Well, I guess I'll let Jeebs know we don't need the private jet or private island anymore."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "You still have to pay him for the whole day."

"Of course, he has seven imaginary kids and a wife to feed," Charlotte chuckled and punched Roman in the shoulder. "He's got bills to pay, ya know."

"Yeah, well, you have me to look after."

Roman considered pressing his luck and asking if that meant they were officially boyfriend/girlfriend but he decided against it since it would more than likely lead to an argument. It irked Roman to continue sleeping with Charlotte and take her on 'dates' and not get the privilege of calling Charlotte his girlfriend. In a way, he understood why she didn't want that label, but Roman was still upset about it.

"That's true," Roman agreed, mentally pushing back the urge to bring up commitment.

Charlotte pressed her eyebrows together. "You ok?"

Roman, coming out of his trance fully, nodded his head. "You just look so beautiful. Like… Greek goddess beauty."

Charlotte's emerald eyes sparkled. "Are you trying to get in my pants before we leave?"

Roman smirked. "Is it working?"

"A little."

"Well, and I cannot believe I'm saying this, we have people waiting for us so we can't have sex."

"Darn, I really wanted to but I guess we can't ever again," Charlotte added a wink for good measure.

Roman nodded, wrapped his arm around Charlotte's waist, then lead her out the door.


Seth was about as uncomfortable as a burlap thong. If the tacky pop music and cheap champagne wasn't enough, it was the sight of the girl he once found irresistible kissing her boyfriend and trying to maneuver around his bad shoulder so he could grope her backside with his good hand. Along with that, Alexa was staring at him like he was on fire.

"What?" Seth asked semi-annoyed, finding Alexa's staring grating.

"Your hair is gay." Alexa slurred.

Dean snickered while Seth rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Oh, dude, relax," Dean said. "She's drunk, Bayley's drunk, you gotta enjoy life sometimes." He slid his friend an unopened bottle of bourbon. "Try the good shit. Zack says it's from '87."

"Uh, '84, actually," Zack corrected, managing to push Bayley off of his person for a moment. "It's from Kentucky. Brewed there then shipped from New Orleans."

"Holy shit, it's like Mardi Gras, Seth," Dean uncapped the bottle himself and took a swig. "Good God, that's the good shit."

"Did you say Mardi Gras?" Charlotte asked, crawling into the limo with Roman behind her.

"Yeah, take your top off, we're having a contest."

"He's joking, Bayley," Zack nearly shouted as his girlfriend started pulling her shirt over her head. "Don't do that here."

"He said it's a contest though," Bayley whined.

"I'll take Zack's word for it, Bay." Dean said.

Charlotte and Roman took their spots across from Seth. Charlotte gave Seth a sheepish, semi-serious smile. Seth pretended like he hadn't noticed.

"How's your car, Seth?" Charlotte asked.

Seth was going to start arguing with her, but her voice wasn't taunting or mocking him but sounded like general concern.

"Uh, yeah I got the Briscoes working on it." Seth said.

"Did your insurance cover all of it? If not I can ask my dad to cover the rest."

When Seth made eye contact with Charlotte he was surprised by the look of sincerity in her eyes. "That'd be great, Charlotte, thank you."

Charlotte's generosity made Seth remember one of the reasons he wanted to go on this shopping trip. "Dean, cut the music."

"Give me a minute, I got my hands full." As he said this, Alexa was half-dancing half-squirming on his lap in time to the pop music blasting from the speakers, with Dean struggling to keep her on his lap and upright.

"Dude."

"Alright, fuck," Dean clicked a button on the control panel next to his head. "What do you want?"

Seth took a deep breath. "Well, as some of you are aware, I did some stupid shit a few days ago."

"You *hic* cheated on Dana, you whore!" Bayley yelled.

Everyone, with the exception of Seth, laughed at Bayley. Seth cleared his throat and continued.

"Anyway, I cheated on Dana with AJ and that not only hurt them but a lot of you guys are pissed at me as well. Alexa I wouldn't blame you if you never spoke to me again… Unless you were making fun of the blonde streak in my hair. Which I deserve, I deserve a lot worse to be honest. If you guys wanna stop being talking to me and being my friend you can and I would understand. But, just in case you do, I just want to say that I regret what I've done the last few weeks. I haven't apologized to Dana or AJ but I will tomorrow, I promise. I know Lex and Charlotte hate my guts and Roman and Dean aren't far off that trail either, but I just wanted to say I was sorry anyway."

The group was silent after Seth stopped talking. Dean and Roman shared a surprised glance with each other. Alexa slid off Dean's lap and onto the seat beside him. Bayley, setting her bottle of champagne down, shuffled in Seth's direction. Seth, fully expecting an uppercut, braced himself. But to the surprise of everyone in the limo, she threw her arms around Seth and warmly embraced him. Seth started to tear up when he returned the hug.

"I wasn't expecting that, Bayley," Bayley released the hug and retreated to the embrace of her boyfriend Zack. "I appreciate it though."

"Since when do you have the balls to show humility?" Dean asked.

Seth chuckled. "Today, apparently."

The small group of students sat in silence for a moment, pondering what they'd just heard. After a beat had passed, Dean looked at the bourbon bottle wedged in the cup holder next to him and passed it to Roman.

"Dude, for real. Try this. It's what scientists refer to as 'the good shit.'"

Roman chuckled and took the bottle from his scruffy friend, taking a long pull.

"Holy fuck, that is good. That is a sassy liquor. Zack, send my compliments to your dad."

Zack chuckled. "Well, we're going to have to go by a liquor store on the way back and replace all this shit, since you're all underaged, and if I tell him I drank it all, he's gonna make me go to rehab."

"I'm 21," Alexa interjected, with only the hint of a drunken slur.

Zack snickered. "So, me and the world's tiniest cheerleader? He'll buy that."

The entire group chuckled as Charlotte opened the small refrigerated compartment where the libations were coming from, pulling a six pack of imported beer from it's innards. Pulling one off the plastic rings, she handed it to Roman, then cracked her own open.

"Hey, blondie, over here."

Charlotte's eyes raised to see Dean's arm extended, giving her a nonverbal cue to toss him a beer. She did, and Dean pulled it from the air expertly. She offered one to Seth, who smiled and accepted.

"Apology accepted, bud." Charlotte grinned at him.

Alexa chimed in. "Me too. But you HAVE to apologize to AJ."

"And Dana," Bayley added, her seriousness coming off as cute in her inebriated state.

"I promise I will tomorrow."

"Good," Alexa said, a hint of bossiness in her voice. "Now, where's the champagne?"

Dean rubbed his hand on her back. "Babe, and I cannot believe I'm saying this, but you think you've had enough until we get done shopping? I don't know enough about what looks good to get you through this."

Alexa looked him deep in his eyes for a moment, deciding if he was serious or not.

"Fine," she spat out, in the tone of a petulant third grader. "But once we're done shopping, I'm getting smashed." The look on her face changed to a pointed, more sultry one. "And then I'm getting smashed."

Dean was pretty sure she'd said it in a low enough tone so as to avoid anyone else hearing it over the hum of the road and the chatter from the other occupants of the vehicle, but Dean was again shocked by Alexa's brazen nature. He wanted to tell her she didn't need to do that, but he could also tell that Alexa was already intoxicated enough to where it might hurt her feelings, so instead he just chuckled and rubbed Alexa's back with his hand again.

"I am a man of God, Alexa, I shall not partake in such unGodly activities," Dean lowered his voice. "When people are watching."

"Since when?" Alexa asked, half amused and half befuddled.

"Since you started yelling His name during 'quality time.'"

Alexa slapped Dean on his chest with the back of her hand and giggled. "You're insane."

Dean grinned. "Yep, and you love me."

Alexa pecked him lightly on the lips and smiled. "I sure do."


Seth wasn't sure what he was expecting when he heard the phrase "costume shop." The closest thing he'd ever seen had been a Party City back home where he bought his cheap halloween outfits every year. When the limo passed the second state toll booth and the bright lights of NYC came into view Seth knew it was more than a discount halloween the gravity of the moment, Dean started fooling with his phone, which was currently the one sending the music to the state of the art system in the limo, and with a smirk cued up "New York" by JAY-Z and ALICIA KEYS. Dean couldn't help himself, rapping along, particularly to the phrases "shit, I made a Yankees hat more famous than a Yankee can:" and, "Long live the King yo, I'm from the empire state."

"Really?" Seth asked his friend, thinking the whole thing more cheezy than funny. He was quickly overruled, though, by Bayley, Charlotte, and Alexa all singing along to the chorus as the limo crossed the Manhattan bridge into the city.

The luxurious vehicle came to a gradual stop in front of a glass laden storefront with a giant neon sign that read "Monsoon's." Ready to be anywhere but in the limo, the seven kids spilled out the back passenger door and sized up the building. Zack looked briefly at the screen of his phone, then walked up to the front walkway and tapped a button by the doorknob, alerting those inside of their arrival. Less than 30 seconds later, a pretty woman in her mid forties opened the door, smiling all the way.

"You must be Zack. Your mom told me to be expecting you. Please come in."

Zack turned to his friends and shrugged his shoulders. "You guys coming?"

The group began following him cautiously, as Seth leaned over to Alexa.

"Who the fuck is his dad, Rudy Giuliani?"

Alexa tried to contain her laughter as they continued through the arched doorway.

Once they'd gotten situated, it took very little time for Lisa, the manager on duty, to get them started on their process. First, she'd talked to the girls, who all immediately knew their measurements. The boys, on the other hand, knew nothing of what they needed, requiring Lisa to take all their suit measurements. When she took Dean's inseam measurement, he'd jokingly asked Roman if it was "normal for me to be turned on right now?" This prompted raucous laughter from Roman, an eye roll from Lisa, and a narrow-eyed death stare from Alexa, who finally laughed after a panicked look washed over Dean's face. Once all this was done, Lisa disappeared into the endless racks of clothing, promising to find them fantastic, period-accurate outfits.

When she returned, the girls swarmed her, grabbing clothing hung neatly in dry cleaning bags from the overwhelmed woman and making tracks for the changing rooms. Dean wasn't sure how much time passed before they opened the doors and came back out, but he was pretty sure it was too long. His attitude did a 180, however, when Alexa slinked out of her changing room in a black sequined Robe de Style dress with deep red trim, matching Mary Jane shoes, and the iconic Cloche style hat.

Dean whistled. "Damn, babe, you look like the genuine article."

Alexa grinned. "Really?"

Dean nodded his affirmation. "Hell yes. Don't change a thing. This is perfect."

Alexa turned a slow circle, raising her arms. "I like it. A lot. I'll take it."

Lisa smiled, though it may have been as forced as it was genuine. "Very good. If you'll go change I'll wrap it back up for you."

Alexa looked down at her attire again. "Damn, I'm pretty cute." She sashayed back into the changing room, allowing the tassels hanging from her dress to swing from one side to the other. The other two girls ended up with similar outfits, with Bayley's trimmed in baby blue and Charlotte's in gold. Then it was the boys' turn. For Roman, she brought out a black suit with white pinstripes, vest and long tie. She also brought black wingtips and a fedora style hat. For Seth, she'd chosen a burgundy jacket with silver stripes, white pants and a blue long tie. Lisa referred to it as "Gatsby chic." She also brought him a black bowler style hat, which Seth let lay slightly to one side. He wore wingtips as well. Zack presented a unique challenge, because of the large cast on his left arm. She brought him a white shirt, purple vest, white pants, and pale orange tie. Bayley loved it.

Finally, there was Dean Ambrose. Lisa had really gone all out. She found him a slate blue shirt, grey pants and vest, matching suspenders, grey bow tie, and grey page boy style hat. Alexa yelled "what the fuck" at him through the dressing room door when she heard the pop top of a beer open inside, but laughed it off when Dean stuck his beer under the door and asked if Alexa wanted a sip. She giggled again and refused, then stepped back as Dean exited the changing room.

"Holy shit," Charlotte mused as Ambrose strutted confidently out of the confines of the changing room.

"Dean, that's...amazing," Alexa agreed, giving Dean the once-over.

"Dean's hot when he cleans up!" Bayley drunkenly shouted. No one could disagree. Dean, who hadn't seen his two friend's costumes, snickered good-naturedly when he took them in.

"You two look like those two guys who beat up the Newsies."

Roman rolled his eyes. "Fuck you, man. Charlotte likes it, so I'm good."

Dean shrugged. "Fair enough." He turned to Lisa, who suddenly looked really tired. "So, what do we owe you for the rental?"

Lisa threw up her shoulders and made a dismissive hand wave. "Please. Mrs. Ryder said to put it all on her account. She said she won't hear of you all paying for your costumes."

Roman looked at an embarrassed Zack. "Seriously dude, who the fuck are your parents?"

Zack shrugged, although it was much more pronounced with his good shoulder than his bad. "My mom likes to help people."

Dean smiled and put his wallet away. "Awesome." He turned his attention to the rest of the group. "We drink to Zack's mom the rest of the night." Everyone nodded their agreement.

Lisa returned with everyone's costumes rewrapped in a plastic bag. Charlotte, Roman, and Seth began to leave. Alexa attempted to follow them but Dean slid his hand around her waist and spun her around to face him. Alexa was about to say something, but Dean wrapped his arms around Alexa's waist and pulled her against his body.

Alexa's breath hitched in her throat. "H-hi."

"You look surprised, baby," Dean said with a smirk. "I thought you wanted to get smashed tonight."

Alexa nervously looked around the empty lobby. "Here?"

"Well a dressing room but yeah."

Alexa stuck out her bottom lip like she was pouting. "Can I be on top?"

"You always are."

"Good," Alexa gripped one of Dean's calloused hands and pulled him in the direction of the dressing rooms. "You're gonna-"

Dean stopped walking and looked at Alexa. "What?"

Alexa covered her mouth to keep in her laughter. She pointed towards one of the dressing rooms. Dean followed her gaze and, much to his surprise, there was two pairs of feet already in the dressing room they were going to. Judging by the white Jordan's and pink Reeboks, it was cleary Zack and Bayley. Dean covered his face to keep from laughing also. Bayley's feet started to move as the door started to open. Bayley, still clearly drunk, emerged from the dressing room while wiping her bottom lip with the heel of her hand.

"Hey, Bay," Alexa said with a giggle, stopping Bayley in her tracks.

"Oh, shit," Bayley muttered, realizing she was caught.

"Hey, babe, can you help me with my zip-" Zack stopped his sentence when he noticed Alexa and Dean.

"Whatcha doin' Zack?" Dean asked with a knowing smile.

"I was giving him a blowjob, leave me alone." Bayley took Zack by the hand and shuffled towards the front entrance.

"Wow, even Zack got off before me." Dean shook his head. "I must be losing my touch."

Alexa stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips over Dean's. "I love you." She whispered seductively in his ear while running her hand over the front of his pants.

Dean, grabbing Alexa by the hand, pulled his cheerleader towards the previously occupied changing room.

"You are in big trouble now, little Miss Bliss."

Alexa smiled and happily followed her boyfriend.