Disclaimer:

Nope, I don't own the WWE superstars, or diva's, or any other people from the WWE universe that might come up in the story. They belong to themselves, Vince, or whoever THE man is. Point is, I DONT own them. I only own my OC's and my ideas.


"Mr. Brooks. Are you ready to talk to us now?"

Phil, who was sitting on the floor of a cell, glanced up at the cop with a tired look about his face. He shrugged, "I've got nothing new to say. I didn't attack her; I saved her. My brother was the one who drugged her."

The cop sighed, "You do realise you have no evidence whatsoever to back you up? Jessica, the waitress, said she saw you putting something in Miss Valentine's drink."

Phil bit back a rude retort, and said through his teeth, "That was my brother. We look a lot alike."

"Right," the cop shook his head, "You better hope the young lady wakes up and tells us the same story, otherwise, fraud will be another charge against you."

Phil rolled his eyes, before stopping the cop as he walked out, "Wait. I'd like to make my phone call now."

The cop looked at him long and hard, before obliging. Phil didn't really think much could come out of this, but the least he could do is let Stephen know where he and Nikki were. It took him forever to answer, but finally, he did pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Steve, it's me, Punk."

"Phil! Where the hell have you been? Listen, I don't know how to tell you this, but, uhhh . . . Nikki's in the hospital."

Phil would have laughed if the situation was different, but he settled for saying, "Yeah, I know."

"I'm sor- wait, you know? How do you know? And why aren't you here then?"

"I'm the one who found her. Long story short, I'm sort of, well, in jail."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Why?"

"Bad timing, stupid cops, don't worry. I'm hoping once Nikki's awake it'll clear up. How's she doing?"

"I don't know, they called me like, five minutes ago, I'm going to check on her now."

"Alright," Phil sighed.

"I'll be with you after I make sure she's fine, don't worry."

"What. . . no- Steve?" Phil rolled his eyes. He hung up in him.

%%%%%

Nicole was awake, after what felt like ages. She wasn't particularly sure how long she had been out, or where she was, but she assumed that she was in her room. Something was off, she could tell, but even so, she really didn't feel like opening her eyes. It was just so much nicer to sleep.

"I'm sorry, I'm not letting you disturb her until she's out of my hospital!"

"Sir, you don't understand. We need to ask her a few questions. It's for her own safety."

"As long as she's in here, she's safe. I'm sorry officer, but I'd like you to leave now."

Nikki frowned, not entirely sure what that was about . . . or who it was, as a matter of fact. Begrudgingly, she opened her eyes. She looked around the room; this was definitely not her bed. She was in a hospital; why was she in a hospital? Nikki began to panic, as she tried to make sense of this, just as a soft voice graced her ears.

"Oh, good, Miss Valentine, you're awake," the young nurse said. "Let me just check your vitals here, then I'll get you something to eat or drink, if you'd like."

Nikki nodded slowly, and let the nurse do her job. Still slightly confused, she asked, "Why exactly am I here?" She was vaguely aware of the fact that the left side of her head was pounding.

"You don't remember what happened last night?" asked the nurse nervously.

Nikki was about to shake her head no, when she realised that she did in fact remember what happened. The nurse must have noticed this, as she nodded, and added comfortingly, "Don't worry, the police got there right on time, honey."

"The police? I thought . . ." Nikki trailed off, noting the sympathetic look on the nurse's face. "Nevermind. Can I get some water?"

The nurse nodded and left. Nicole fell back against the pillow, and tried to put the pieces together. However, she had barely been alone for a few minutes, when someone walked in again. This time, it was a cop. Nikki sat up, looking around warily, when a doctor walked in behind him.

"Sir! I thought I made it clear; I don't want you disturbing my patient! Leave now."

Nicole glanced briefly between the two, before saying, "Uhm . . . it's okay. I don't mind." The officer looked triumphant, while the doctor opened his mouth to argue, but Nikki stopped him, "It's fine, really. I mean, how long can it take?"

The doctor was obviously not happy, but he still walked out, muttering under his breath. Nikki turned to face the officer, who gave her a small smile, before saying, "Miss Valentine. My name is Officer Williams. I just have a few questions about last night. Do you remember what happened?"

Nikki nodded, "Yeah, I was out for dinner, and then when we left-"

Williams stopped her, asking, "You were out for dinner with Mr. Brooks, correct?"

Nicole nodded. Williams wrote something on a clipboard, before asking, "Can you tell me what's the last thing you remember before leaving the restaurant?"

"Uhm . . . he bought us drinks. And I'd just finished it, when I started feeling weird; I knew it wasn't the alcohol, but I didn't realise he put something in it until later," replied Nicole.

"And then?"

"He said he'd take me home, but I was conscious enough to realise we were going the wrong way," Nicole said. "Then he dragged me over to some dark place, and I'm not too sure what happened, but I remember trying to push him off of me, and then . . . then I think, I heard Phil's voice yelling at him . . . and that's all I remember."

"Wait." Officer Williams looked quite confused. "Phil? As in Phillip Brooks?" Nikki nodded. "Were you out to dinner with Phillip Brooks or not?"

Nicole's eyes widened, as she shook her head, "No, I was with Jackson, his brother. Why?"

"Miss Valentine, the man we have in custody is Phillip Brooks. Are you sure he's not the one who drugged you?"

"Oh, God, no," Nikki shook her head, "Of course not. I was with Jackson. He's the one you should be locking up. Phil didn't do anything."

The Officer looked pretty annoyed, as he stared at his clipboard. He sighed, shaking his head, and thanked her, before standing up and making a phone call. She couldn't quite tell what he was saying, until the very end. "Yeah . . . let him go. The guy was telling the truth. No, even the waitress wasn't sure last night, remember? He's innocent. Hell, he may have actually saved her. Damn." Nikki almost smiled at that; Williams didn't seem to be happy about that last bit.

Shortly after the officer left, the doctor came back. He smiled at her, and explained, "Your vitals look pretty good. I'm going to do a few more tests, and observe you for another hour or so, then you can go home."

Nikki nodded, before resting back on her pillow, after glancing at the clock; well, there's no way she's making her flight to Raw. That was going to be fun to explain to the big guys!

%%%%%

Phil couldn't fall asleep. It was past one in the morning, and he just couldn't fall asleep, which was bad, considering the fact that he was travelling later that day. After he called Stephen last night, his friend came and tried to get the cops to let him out, but nothing worked. Phil wasn't panicking, but Steve was, which cracked him up. The only thing that sucked really was having to wait overnight and well into the next morning until Nicole woke up and cleared his name. For a moment, Phil had actually wondered if maybe she did wake up and decided he deserved to be locked up; he didn't think Nikki was the type to do that, but he still worried. But fortunately, it turned out that it just took her a little longer to wake up than expected. What bothered Phil, though, was that after they had all gotten home, he could easily tell that Nikki was doing her best to avoid him. He pondered cornering her again, but then he remembered that the last time he did that, she ended up kicking him in the nuts. Yeah, he wasn't doing that again.

After another ten minutes of no sleep, Phil sighed, getting off of bed; he was thirsty. He made his way downstairs to the kitchen, and was in the process of pouring himself a glass of water, when he heard movement in the backyard. Not just any random creature, like a squirrel or a raccoon, but footsteps. Human footsteps. Phil warily walked toward the door and pulled it open abruptly. He did not know who to expect, but he was still surprised to see Nicole on the other side, her arm reaching for the door, and her eyes mirroring his own surprise, as well.

"Hey," she said.

Phil stepped back to allow her to enter, "Hey." He looked at her in bewilderment, and asked, "What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

Nikki shrugged, closing the door, then leaning back against it, "Nothing. Couldn't sleep, and the moon was pretty." She paused briefly, before adding, "The doctor said that might happen. Side effect from the allergy meds they gave me."

"What, a fascination with the moon?" Phil said, smirking slightly.

He hid it well, but he still felt like throttling someone everytime he thought about what happened to Nicole. Not only did his idiot of a brother drug and attempt to rape her, but it turned out that Nikki nearly went into respiratory arrest last night after his arrest, an allergic reaction to whatever the asshole put in her drink.

Nikki rolled her eyes, smiling briefly, "No, the restlessness, not being able to sleep. But I figured I'll make up for it on the flight to Seattle." She began twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger, a habit Phil noticed that she only did when she was nervous. Before he could comment on that, she asked, "What about you?"

Phil studied her curiously, as he raised his water glass, "Thirsty. Are you okay?"

Nicole opened her mouth to assure him that she was just fine, but instead what came out instead was, "No, I'm not actually. I'm an idiot."

Phil raised an eyebrow, "Well, I know that. But why is it suddenly bothering you?"

"Stop," Nikki said, looking at him sombrely, "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you."

"I know," Phil sighed in defeat, "But I've come to dread those; they always seem to end with one of us yelling at the other."

Nikki sort of felt bad about that, but then she reminded herself that he was just as responsible for that as she was. Still, she needed to get something off of her chest.

"I'm sorry," Nicole looked pretty distressed, and Phil wasn't exactly sure why, until she began explaining, "I was an idiot; I should have listened to you and Steve when you warned me about Jackson." Nikki hesitated, before continuing, "Although in my defence, it's partly your fault for lying to me, but that's beside the point. You didn't need to be there; I should have dealt with the consequences of my mistake. And I'm sorry that you had to be burdened by that."

As she spoke, Phil's initial amusement with the whole situation gradually began to dissapear with every word. He appreciated the apology, until she explained that she was basically apologizing for 'burdening' him, for him having to save her, instead of for her refusing to believe him. Then, he was pretty annoyed.

Phil narrowed his eyes at her, saying, "Oh yeah, how could I do such a thing? Everyone needs to experience getting drugged and subsequently raped at least once in their lifetime! Who am I to prevent such important life lessons?"

"That's not what I said, "Nicole retorted sharply. "I'm glad you were there, but the fact of the matter is you shouldn't have been. Especially considering the fact that the only reason I was even out with Jackson, the only reason I was befriending him at all was to get back at you. I'm a horrible person, and you should be mad at me, not 'saving' me."

Phil was completely preplexed by the way Nikki's mind worked. For a few seconds, he was at a loss for words, before shaking his head at her, "Well, congrats! Now I am mad, but apparently, not for the right reasons." He reached over to place both his hands on either of her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes, "I don't blame you at all for what happened last night. Sorry to disappoint you, but that was all Jackson. I'm just glad you're okay."

Nikki's frustration was clear as day in her eyes, as she insisted, "But that's just it! You shouldn't just let me off the hook; you should be upset that you had to go through all that, that you had to spend an entire night, and most of the day after, in jail. You shouldn't just forgive me! I was stupid, and stubborn; I was a fucking bitch to you, and you need to call me out on tha-"

There was just something about Nicole's rants that was incredibly adorable, and just a tad sexy. It was one of the very first things Phil noticed about her when he met her, when she was venting about her brother being a dick about lending her money. Phil didn't know if it was wise, but when it appeared that she was going to keep freaking out, he abruptly pulled her towards him, before pressing his lips against hers.

At first, Nikki appeared to be frozen, but she soon kissed him back. Phil grinned softly against her lips, before pulling away after a moment. She looked shaken, which didn't really surprise him too much. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, saying "I've wanted to do that for a while now, but you kept getting mad at me. It's pretty frustrating."

Nikki was quite surprised at how quickly the mood changed. She looked up at Phil, saying weakly, "It's not like you've never done it before."

Phil chuckled softly, "Yeah, but I felt guilty then. You know, Maria and stuff."

"Right," Nikki appeared to be speechless for a moment, before she tried to pull away from his grasp, "We can't do this."

"Oh, no, no way, you're not running away this time," Phil said, rolling his eyes, and grabbing her wrist before she walked away. He gently lifted Nikki's chin up so that he was looking down at her eyes, "I'm getting pretty tired of that too."

She looked up at him, uncertainty evident in her blue eyes, "We can't. Now, it feels right and completely logical, but when the morning comes, we'll both be on our way out. We'll be travelling different schedules, different cities. It's impossible."

"Only because you want it to be," replied Phil smoothly. It wasn't very easy to spot, but it was there. Nicole was hiding behind that excuse; he could see it. Whenever she got too close, she always pulled away; his only comfort was that he could tell she did it with everyone, even her so-called bestfriend, Michelle. "You won't know unless you give it a chance, unless you give me a chance."

"I can't," Nikki hated being put on the spot; she hated that Phil was now making this her decision. He wasn't leaving her any excuses. "I hate relatiosnhips; I can't hold down a normal one, let alone one that's bound to be as hectic as anything between the two of us would. And I like being your friend too much to mess it up like that."

Phil sighed, shaking his head, "I'm not the best either, I'm not claiming to be, but if you don't take a risk, well, that'll just suck, because trying to deny this is already coming between us. Soon, it'll be one too many beer baths from you, or maybe I'll end up punching one too many Mizanin's. You have to take a risk."

"I don't like those kinds of risks," Nicole complained. But Phil could see that she was pretty torn about it.

"Then let me take the risk," Phil smiled, "You can just tag along; you're good at that, aren't you?"

Nikki rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth were twitching, "Shut up."

"Come on, you know I'd never hurt you."

There were a million reasons why she should have just walked away, but Nicole couldn't deny that feeling that she got as she searched Phil's face. She couldn't deny how right this felt. Sure, she still had her issues with him trying to always 'protect' her, and she still had little to no faith in relationships, but he was right. How was she supposed to know for sure if she didn't try it herself? Despite her better judgement, Nikki shifted closer to Phil, saying, "You may have a point."

He grinned at her triumphantly, lifting her off of her feet, "Now was that so hard?" He laughed, before kissing her again. He knew it wasn't going to be the easiest thing to do, and god knows he was just as apprehensive about it as Nicole was, maybe even more. But for one reason or the other, at that moment, it didn't really matter.


A/N:

So I'm a little bit overwhelmed by this past week.

What with the amazing stuff going on with Punkee on TV/Twitter, and the response to the last chapter, I'm just ecstatic. I really am so grateful for you guys; your reviews are just so amazing, not to mention all the faves and stuff. You guys are the best.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review :)

-xoxo, Lillian!