Roman and Charlotte sat out on the rustic wrap around porch their vacation home came equipped with together, enjoying an early light breakfast and talking softly. Roman had come out first, unable to go back to sleep, and his gorgeous "girl friend" found him a few minutes later. She'd slid into is lap, kissed him, and talked gently with him about his aggressive nature on their hike the day before. Charlotte had enjoyed the lovemaking itself, but seeing that side of Roman unnerved something in her. For now though, the two sat in rocking chairs overlooking the lake, discussing the events of the day before.

"So, it's like, WAYYY too soon for Zack and Bayley to be engaged, right?" Charlotte asked Roman, her head shaking in disbelief.

"For any other two people on the planet, I'd say yeah, but those two goobers don't know any better, and they're SUPER in love, so...I mean, it works for them."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. Of course Roman would take the super-romantic point of view. It was another thing about him that gave her pause. But she couldn't help herself, she was developing feelings for him that she'd never had for anyone else. She stood, intending to go inside with her dirty dishes, but Roman pulled her back over close to him.

"Hey," he rumbled, sliding his arm around Charlotte's waist. "Sorry about being weird about the relationship stuff yesterday. As long as I'm the only guy for you, I'll take it."

Charlotte smiled, bent down, and kissed Roman on the top of his head. "You are definitely the only one for me. C'mon, let's get these dishes cleaned. We're hitting the water park today."

Until this morning, Dean Ambrose had never felt more like a genius in his life. He'd had the idea to book this mini-vacay to the Pocono's, he'd had the idea to buy Lex a nice bit of jewelry as a reminder that the piece of jewelry she wanted was on the way, and last night that idea had led to three separate sessions of "quality time." Now, however, as Dean woke up alone, he felt the sense of genius go away to be replaced by a sense of panic. He could hear Alexa in the bathroom, breathing raggedly. He also thought he heard the slightest of sobs. Sufficiently alarmed, Dean sprung from his bed and ran quickly to the master bathroom.

"Babe! Lex, are you ok?" He found his love sitting with her back resting on the bathtub, hands clutched around her stomach. All manor of "worst case scenarios" ran through Dean's head, and he prayed silently that nothing was seriously wrong with his vulnerable love.

She finally answered, wiping tears from her eyes. "Morning sickness. I'm ok. Promise."

Dean crouched next to Alexa, softly wrapping his arm around her. "You sure?"

Alexa nodded, her face now resting in her hands. "Yeah, mom said if it hadn't started yet, it would soon. Of course it would be during vacation." She chuckled wryly and shook her head, rolling her eyes in mild disbelief at her body's timing in betraying her. "I guess I can't go to the water park."

Dean chuckled. "I mean, you could, but you probably shouldn't ride the slides."

Alexa gave an exaggerated pout. "Then what's the point?"

Dean looked her in the eye intently. "Concessions. I bet the snacks there are off the chain."

Alexa's eyes got wide. She'd been VERY hungry lately. Almost constantly, in fact. She was actually a little behind on her weight gain to this point, and thoughts of deep fried chicken tenders and something covered in chocolate was figuratively making her foam at the mouth. And funnel cake. She'd been weirdly craving it the last month, and she'd be willing to bet anything she could get some there.

"I'm in," she said, wiping the tears from her face. "But you can't just leave me the whole day."

Dean grinned. "I won't. Someone has to pay for all that snacking, right?"

Alexa nodded emphatically. "You're starting to figure this out, Dean Ambrose." He stood up, satisfied that she was ok. She extended her hands up to him. "Now help me up. I'm enfeebled by my pregnant state."

Dean chuckled, glad that Alexa seemed to be ok, and helped her to her tiny feet. Alexa began to reach for Dean's face, then stopped herself. "I really want to kiss you, but I threw up like eight times, so I'm gonna brush my teeth first."

Dean drew a breath and groaned. "Yeah, I'll take an IOU on that. But it's good to know that you're thinking of me."

Alexa smiled and squeezed Dean's hand. "Always, boo. Now get ready. You have waterslides to take on and I have concessions to devour."

Both Dean and Alexa laughed, happy for a silly moment after a brief scare, and hopeful that that was as challenging as the first trimester got.

Becky had been getting ready for the group's trip to the waterpark; She had issues debating whether she should do something casual and simple or something that would make Sasha crave her like a thirsty man in the desert and Becky was the last bottle of water. Deciding with casual and simple, (since chances were Sasha was debating the same thing and hopefully she went the opposite Becky did) Becky pulled on an oversized t-shirt she stole from Finn a few years back and a pair of white jean shorts.

When Becky stepped out of the bathroom, she noticed that Sasha hadn't changed yet. The second thing that caught her attention, was her girlfriend sitting with her head cradled in her hands while she seemed to silently weep to herself.

"Sash?" Becky cautiously approached the crying purple haired girl, who hadn't flinched when Becky made her presence known. "Is everything ok?"

Sasha didn't say anything; She simply pointed at the screen up smartphone to her left.

Becky picked up the discarded phone. "What is it?"

"Just listen to the voicemail." Sasha barely spoke above an audible decibel level loud enough for Becky to hear her. Becky's eyes grew wide as the now-familiar stern voice of Yvonne Banks blared through Sasha's phone;

"Sasha, this is your mother. I cannot tell you how angry I am over your decision to engage in sinful behavior. That's what it is, Sasha. A choice. And because you've chosen to turn your back on the Church and the beliefs you were taught in your home, your home is choosing to turn it's back on you. Your father and I have decided not to allow you home unless you recant from this...abomination. Marriage was created to be between a man and a woman, and what you're doing with that...redheaded harlot is sinful. We love you, but we refuse to allow this unrepented sin in our home. When you are willing to come to confession and tell the Priest your sin and seek absolution, we will re-accept you into our family. Good bye."

Becky stared at the phone. Too shocked to move, she let her eyes blaze on the screen, tears rapidly forming in her eyes. She looked over at Sasha. "So I'm a 'arlot?"

Sasha shrugged and stared at the floor. "I'm worse. I'm a heretic, apparently."

Becky chuckled. "The 'arlot and the 'eretic. Sounds like an Irish folk story." She sat gently next to Sasha, who seemed to be having trouble maintaining eye contact. "Babe," Becky called gently. She wrapped her arms around Sasha and pressed her lips onto Sasha's shoulder. ""I know it's 'ard. I do. But it can't possibly be as 'ard as livin' a lie. Right?"

Sasha nodded and smiled. "Fuck them," she said. "They don't want to love me for who I am, they don't have to love me at all." Saying that out loud had made some of the pain go away, but there was still plenty anguish harboring in Sasha's heart.

Becky grinned and planted a loving kiss on Sasha's neck. "Tha's the spirit. Now, let's get our swimsuits on. Make them straight boys see what they're missin'."

Sasha grinned. "Hell yes." With that, the two girls began rummaging through their clothes, searching for swimwear that would turn heads.

In the end, everyone decided to go to the water park. Zack's cast was the type that could get wet, and Zelina was able to borrow swimwear from a somewhat reluctant Dana (which led to muttered jokes from AJ about Seth's "type"), and so all three vehicles were loaded with eager young people. Alexa, as always, rode shotgun with Dean, and he'd invited Titus and Nia to ride with them, hopeful that a little face time with Nia would again ease the tension between them.

"Hey, Nia," Dean began cautiously. When she looked in his direction, it was surprisingly without any form of hate or disdain. Taking that as a good first step, Dean continued. "You're gonna swim with everybody, right?"

"Of course," Nia replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

Dean shrugged. "Just wondering. I thought since Lex wasn't that you'd stay behind too."

Nia nodded her head slowly. "Oh, just because I'm a bigger girl you think I'm self conscious."

"No, no, that's not what I was saying," Dean staggered and chose his next words carefully. "I'm sure you look hot in a swimsuit."

"What?" Alexa and Titus said almost at the exact same time.

"Wow, are we here already?" Dean said nonchalantly, pulling into the parking lot behind Zack and Charlotte's cars.

Dean popped out of his car quicker than everybody else so he could hurry to Alexa's side and help her out of her seat. Alexa happily took Dean's hand, said "thank you, baby," gave him a kiss on the cheek and started making her way towards the growing group of people in the parking lot.

Titus grabbed a pull string bag from the trunk, gave Dean a skeptical look, then joined the group near the front entrance.

"Don't worry about T, Dean," Nia said, unloading her own bag. "He's acting weird cuz you're putting the moves on his girl."

"I'm not-"

"Dude, chill," Nia chuckled. "I try joking with you for once and you freak out?"

Dean furrowed his eyebrows, stunned by Nia's nice behavior towards him. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Nia Jax?"

Nia rolled her eyes. "Look, Alexa loves you. Which means you're gonna be around for a long time. Maybe longer if you ever grow a pair and ask her to marry you. There's no point in giving you shit forever since I'm gonna be godmother to that baby. Oh, by the way, Alexa says I'm godmother but you get to pick the godfather. AJ was pissed that she wasn't picked, but Alexa said she got first dibs on the next one. So, looks like you're having more than one unless you want AJ to hide in your closet until you come home."

"Does she talk about that a lot?" Dean looked back at Alexa then back to Nia. "Me proposing, I mean."

"Uh, yeah, more than she talks about student teaching next year; And teaching is her dream. I don't know what it is about you exactly, but she's madly in love with you."

Dean blinked. "I'm still shocked we've gone this long without someone somewhere threatening to castrate me. That happens a lot these days, it seems."

"Don't get used to it, Ambrose," Nia began to walk away but paused. "It would mean the world to me if you named the kid something Samoan… Or Nia."

Dean smirked. "One Nia is enough for me. But I like that Samoan idea. What'd you have in mind?"

"Alofa; It means love. If it's a girl, obviously. Boy, I kinda like Toa. Which sounds cliche but it fits. Especially with a dad like you and a mom like Lex."

"Love or Hero, huh?" Dean chuckled. "Those are pretty good names, Jax, like, really good names. Shit, I haven't even discussed that with Alexa yet."

"Well now you have two good choices. No pressure though." Nia took a deep breath. "Don't tell anyone I said this: But, you're a good guy Dean Ambrose. I can tell you're gonna be a good dad and husband one day."

"I still can't believe you're being nice to me." Dean flashed his signature grin when Nia scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Don't get comfortable. The second you hurt Alexa, you die."

"No dancing around the idea? Just straight to the point? I like it. And you know I would never hurt Alexa."

Nia nodded her head. "I know. And that's one of the reasons why I'm warming up to you. Now, let's hurry up and join the others before they think we're bonding or some shit."

"God, we wouldn't want that to happen, right?"

The group of friends entered Wakakpak Waterpark with childlike enthusiasm.

The lone employee at the front desk greeted them with a smile. "How many today?"

Dean smiled in return. "There's no way you're going to let us count the two people with us under five feet tall as children, is there?"

The young woman maintained her smile, but it morphed into a sarcastic one. "I'm afraid not, sir."

Dean snickered. "Ok, then, there's sixteen of us."

The young woman punched a few buttons on her keyboard. "That'll be four hundred dollars, sir."

Dean coughed from shock at the price. "What?"

The girl smiled at him again, just as sarcastically as the last time. "Yes sir. Twenty five dollars per adult times sixteen adults."

Dean sighed and pulled out his wallet, handing the woman two twenties and a ten. "This is for me and the tiny hot blonde one." He looked over his shoulder to his friends. "You fuckers are on your own." With that, the woman printed off two tickets and handed them to Ambrose, who took his amused girlfriend by the hand and pulled her toward the entrance gate.

After waiting a few minutes for the rest of his friends to pay and enter, Dean pointed toward a nearby changing room. "Ok, Lex, I'm gonna go change. You need anything?"

Alexa grinned. "Yes. I need money for snackies."

Dean rolled his eyes, but began thumbing through his wallet for money, before finally shrugging and handling Alexa the whole thing.

"Here, just take it. I don't want it getting wet anyway."

Alexa smiled. "You're getting the hang of this 'husband' thing, too, Dean."

Dean laughed. "Well, Sika told me once that manhood is just spending your time and money on things that aren't for yourself. I might as well get used to it." With that, he bent down and kissed his lover, who smiled again. Then, he turned away and began walking toward the changing room, until a thought occurred to him. "Hey, don't buy all of Bayley's snacks. I'm down to like eight hundred bucks for this trip and, well, you know…" His voice trailed off as Alexa cackled.

Seth and Zelina caught up with Lex, who was still chuckling at Dean's joke.

"What's so funny?" Rollins asked the little blonde pixie.

Alexa shook her head. "Dean's an idiot."

"I thought we already knew that?" Seth got a few chuckles from the girls but a middle finger from Dean.

Zelina beamed over at Alexa. "Are you sure you don't want to do any of the slides?"

Alexa gave her a tight lipped smile. "The doctor said it shouldn't cause any issues, but given that she said this was already a 'high risk pregnancy,' I'm not gonna chance it." She slid her hands instinctively over her stomach. "This kid is more important than some rides at a water park."

Zelina frowned. "Do you want someone to sit with you? Because I'd be happy to-"

Alexa cut her off. "Bayley's going to. She can't swim, so we're going to eat and talk weddings. Fun stuff. Come see us if you get tired, though."

Zelina gave her a grin and a nod. "I definitely will." Zelina stripped off her t-shirt to show off the top half of the two piece Dana had lent her; It was dark purple with black outlines. It definitely was Dana's, due to how it 'emphasized' certain parts of her chest. Seth smirked and gave her a once over, nodding slowly.

"She's seventeen, Seth, chill out." Dean slapped his friend on the back and led him to the changing rooms.

"You do look nice, Zelina." Alexa reassured the young latina.

Zelina smiled sheepishly. "Really? Are you sure Seth'll like it? I feel like it's too much."

"Well, that's Dana for you." Alexa gestured to a area with lounge chairs and picnic tables. "C'mon, we can talk while the boys change."

The rest of the group filed into the massive indoor waterpark. Titus, Zack, Finn, and Roman entered the locker room to change while the rest of the girls joined Alexa and Zelina. Bayley, smiling and peppy as usual, took a seat in a lounge chair next to Alexa's.

"You sure you don't wanna swim, Bay?" Alexa asked.

Bayley shook her head. "The most shallow part I saw was 5 feet and I'm not much taller than that. Besides, I like talking with you, Lex."

"Aww, thanks, Bayley. You're awesome, too."

The rest of the girls undressed into their swimwear; Most of them tried to hide their jealousy towards Charlotte and her 'ability' to fill hers out more than the others. Shortly after, the guys emerged from the changing room and joined the others. Roman, not having seen Charlotte's choice in water attire, stopped dead in his tracks for a split second before regaining his composure. Dean, looking at his phone, almost ran into his samoan friend.

"Dude," Dean admonished Roman, before following his brother's eyes towards the tall blonde goddess. "Holy shit," he continued, clearly impressed.

"Dude, that's my kool-aid. You got yours."

Dean shrugged and nodded. "Fair enough. And she was on the boat in her underwear yesterday, so I'm not missing anything."

Roman looked at Dean with a gaze of dread on his face. "Bro, you didn't bone Alexa on the boat, did you?"

Dean made a face. "Dude. No. Give me more credit than that. I did sex her up in the dressing room of that costume store though."

Roman shook his head. "You are fucking insane. Now c'mon, we got waterslides to take down."

Dean nodded his agreement, and the two sauntered slowly toward the rest of the group.

Dana had broken away from the group, meaning AJ tagged along too, and decided to sit for a while in the hot tub to relax herself from the apparent stress free vacation she was supposed to be on. Dana stuck her feet in, then slowly eased herself until she was submerged neck deep in the hot water; She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the linoleum floor outside the hot tub. AJ sat on the edge and only stuck her feet in, but wanted to stick close to Dana today.

"This feels nice," Dana moaned. "You should try it, AJ."

"Is that what you said about Seth?" AJ huffed.

Dana opened her eyes. "Babe, how many times do I have to say sorry about that? It was a mistake, I was upset, and I didn't know what else to do," She turned to look at AJ, who was refusing eye contact by staring at her submerged feet. Dana continued. "I should've come talk to you, ok? I'm really sorry."

AJ shook her head. "I don't get a lot of things, Dana, but I really don't get why you slept with Seth. Like, after everything he put you through, you still go crawling back to him? I dunno, to me it makes no sense at all."

Dana sighed. "Look, I love you, AJ. But you're like a sister to me. Seth… He's more as a person I see myself being with for a really long time."

"How can I be your sister if we-"

"You're missing my point here. I love Seth. But… Obviously he doesn't feel the same way anymore."

AJ, hiding the pained expression on her face by turning away from Dana and pretending to scratch her head, shrugged her shoulders again. "I know what you mean. Sorta."

"If you want, we can still go to Max Moon's and get the new Spider-Man comic. I know you've been dying to read it."

AJ dropped her head. "Look, Dana, I really like you. But I don't think Seth is the right guy for you, and I'm not just saying that because I have a little crush on you. He cheats on you, pretty much tells you he wanted Bayley over you, and now showcases this new girl like it's no big deal. That's not something people do for someone they care about," AJ looked up to see how Dana was reacting, but she had her attention on Seth and Zelina while they stood a few yards away talking to each other. "Guess you don't care." AJ muttered, getting out of the water and shuffling away.

Dana, turning her focus back to AJ, tried grabbing her ankle to stop her. "Hey," Dana said after AJ finally stopped. "Where are you going?"

"Why do you care?"

Dana was needless to say taken by surprise at AJ's sudden change in attitude. "Because we were just talking? Did you think I was ignoring you?"

"You can't keep your eyes, or apparently your hands, off of this asshole and you expect me to be ok with it and jump your bones whenever you get upset? You know what? I'll be over by the slides when you decide to stop acting like a jerk."

With that, AJ stormed off to find Bayley and Alexa, leaving Dana alone with her confusion.

Alexa hadn't gotten to spend much time alone with Bayley. She'd talked to her plenty, in group settings, but hadn't gotten to do much with her one on one. Which is why she was enjoying this time with her so much. She smiled as Bayley excitedly told her the story of how Zack had proposed, and how excited her mother had been when she'd called her. But there was something Bayley really needed to talk to Alexa about. Something far more substantial. For the moment, however, the two girls were content sitting on a picnic table, laughing at their significant others and the rest of their group, and surrounded by delicious amusement park food.

Bayley was picking at what was left of an order of nachos while Alexa devoured a chicken tender basket. Bayley giggled watching how quickly Alexa was eating, and Alexa was broken from her food-induced trance by the sound.

"Oh, sorry, I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was," Alexa mumbled, mouth still partially full. She swallowed, took a long drink of her diet soda, and smiled at Bayley. "Ok, taking a little break now."

Bayley laughed again. "It's ok, Lex. You think you're eating more because of the baby?"

Alexa nodded. "Yeah, mom said I would start getting hungrier and eating more, and maybe even craving weird food. I guess I still exercise enough with cheerleading where I haven't gained much weight yet, but soon I won't be able to hide it."

Bayley considered this. "What're you gonna do about cheerleading when the baby starts to show?"

Alexa nodded, picking up a lone french fry and eating it. "Coach McCool said I could wear one of Dean's jerseys and just kind of help out on the sideline. It'd be pretty irresponsible to keep jumping around and stuff much longer, but Dr. Sinclair says I should be good for a few more weeks."

Bayley smiled. "Good. I'm glad you found a good doctor, too."

Alexa shrugged. "She kinda found me. She was the ER doctor on call when they took me to the hospital, but she does OB/GYN normally, so she decided just to take me on as a patient."

Bayley nodded again, fascinated by the process of carrying a child. She hoped it wouldn't be all that much longer until she got to experience it for herself, but Alexa was the first girl she'd ever really known to be pregnant. Some girls in her high school did, as they always do, but Bayley wasn't friends with any of them.

Alexa finished her tenders, then set the empty basket to the side. "So, Bayley," she re-directed, "what are you planning for the wedding? Tell me everything."

Bayley shrugged. "I hadn't really thought about it. I know I want my girls from back home to be bridesmaids."

Alexa's eyebrows raised. "Tell me about them."

"Well, there's Melina. She's...spirited, I think would be the right word. Then there's Shelly, and Taya and...well, they're spirited, too."

Alexa nodded understandingly. "Yeah, some of my friends back home are pretty wild, too. What else?"

"I hadn't really thought about it. You know how every girl dreams about their wedding from the time they're five years old?" Alexa raised her eyebrows excitedly. "Well, not me. I dreamed about being a race car driver or rodeo clown."

Alexa couldn't contain her laughter any longer, although she tried hard not to make her friend feel bad. "Aww, babe," she said gently, "I'm not laughing at you. I just wasn't expecting that."

Bayley grinned sheepishly at her. "I know. I just...I'm not very 'girly,' you know? Like, I don't know much about wedding dresses and flowers, and my mom is all the way in California and…" she trailed off, trying not to let what she was saying overwhelm her.

Alexa slid her hand onto Bayley's, patting it softly. "Hey, don't freak out. It's gonna be fine."

Alexa comforting Bayley gave her an idea. "Hey, would you help me plan my wedding? I know you're busy with getting ready for the baby, and school and stuff, but could I at least show you things and you tell me if it's stupid or not?"

Alexa tried not to let Bayley see how touched she was. "Of course I will, Bayley. You tell me what I can do and I will do my best. May I also suggest Charlotte? She has lots of experience with like...rich people stuff. She can probably help with things like venue. Do you know where you want to get married?"

Bayley knew this one. She'd been thinking about it since the second she'd said "yes" to Zack.

"Disney World."

Alexa wasn't sure if she was serious, so she continued playing along. "Ok, Disney World. You know that's kind of expensive, right?"

Bayley waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, Zack said just to pick a place and he'd talk to his dad about it. Zack said his dad could get us pretty much any venue we wanted."

Alexa tilted her head. "Ok, who is his dad?"

Bayley shrugged. "He's a real famous former NFL player. He used to play for the Chargers and now he does like, commercial real estate or something. Apparently he's out of town a lot."

Alexa nodded. "So, I have a LOT to say about this, but before I do...you wanna find some funnel cake? I have had like, the worst craving for it."

Bayley's eyes grew wide. "Hell yes. Can we get one with chocolate syrup AND powdered sugar on top?"

Alexa chuckled, but nodded her head. "Bayley, you know you can't get married if you die of diabetes first, right?"

Both girls shared a laugh. They couldn't see it, but at that moment Dean and Zack were watching them from an elevated walkway path to one of the slides, happy that the two seemed to get along so well.

The group of friends weren't the only ones at the waterpark; A few families with small children as well as a different group of college students were there as well. Dean decided not to interact with them since Roman claimed he was getting a weird vibe from one of the bigger members whenever he glanced at Charlotte or passed by her. Dean's group kept their distance (his other friends caught on based on his body language alone) and mostly kept to themselves unless they happened to cross paths.

Dean, Finn, Roman, and Zack stood at the top of a four person racing slide called "The Yeti," which Dean kept obnoxiously mispronouncing as "The Yetaaaay." Dean could see his girlfriend from the top of the deck; She was chatting with Bayley while they shared a unhealthy chocolate covered funnel cake.

Dean gave Zack a smirk. "Looks like our girls are getting along, huh? I reckon they're talking about your guys' wedding."

Zack nodded his head. "Bay says she wants the wedding at Disney World. I called my dad and told him and he thinks that shit'll cost close to 30 grand. Luckily, he owes me a few favors so I think he's got it covered."

"You and Charlotte with your rich dad's and secrets and favors. It's fuckin' weird man."

"Well when you catch your dad pulling a Bill Clinton on his secretary you start getting creative."

Dean shot Roman and Finn a side glance before chuckling. "Uh, ok? Didn't know "Rough" Ryder was such a player."

Zack shook his head. "It's whatever. He does what he wants, I couldn't really give two shits less. Just wish he'd come visit every once in a while."

"Well, if it makes ya feel any better, I haven' seen my da' in seven years." Finn chimed in, making Zack chuckle. "No' by choice, ya see, but because I they couldn' afford to live ou' here."

"I can get my dad to fly them out if you want," Zack suggested. "Wouldn't be too much of a hassle."

Finn nodded his head. "Shite, I'd appreciate tha', Zack. Thanks."

While the other three chatted with each other, Roman was watching Charlotte. She was laying in an inner tube, floating down the lazy river, but some guy was drifting beside her and chatting up a storm. Roman realized it was the same guy as before, who he wasn't getting a good vibe from.

"Yo, Ro," Dean snapped Roman from his trance. "We're up."

Finn, Zack, Roman, and Dean took their places on their respective slides.

"Last one down has to…?"

"Switch beds with Seth." Zack suggested.

Dean sighed. "I dunno, with the baby and the… See ya!" He quickly pushed himself and flew down the slide; Roman, Finn, and Zack quickly followed.

When the quarto hit the bottom, it was obvious that Finn was the last to reach the bottom. Slapping the water and cursing in his native tongue, Finn shook his head. "How the 'ell am I gonna tell Liv I just lost a fuckin' king to a futon?"

Roman quickly jumped out of the pool and bounded towards the lazy river.

"Break it to her easy," Dean said. "Tell her she's pretty, kiss her, touch her ass, stuff like that. Then casually start moving her shit out of the bedroom."

Finn shook his head while Dean and Zack cackled on his behalf.

A couple dozen feet away, Roman made his way to the part of the river Charlotte was lounging in. Roman quickly slipped into the water and swam up to Charlotte's inner tube.

"Hey, babe," Charlotte greeted Roman with a kiss when he finally reached her. "Who won the slide race?"

"Dean did," Roman purposefully kept his eyes pointed away from the sneering guy floating on the other side of his girl. "Finn was the last one down so he has to switch beds with Seth."

Charlotte smirked. "Oh, you are so lucky you didn't lose that."

Roman nodded at the guy next to Charlotte. "Who's this?" He asked, hiding his primitive aggression as best as he could.

Charlotte gestured at the guy. "That's David, he's a junior at Penn State. He says he wants to start his own business after he graduates."

"Wassup, bruh?" David said in a ridiculous 'surfer dude' accent, still sneering at Roman. "I was just walkin' by and I saw this hot little lady all alone and I'd thought I say hi."

Roman chuckled dryly. "I'm glad you were keeping my girl company, David from Penn State."

David continued like he hadn't heard Roman. "Cutie pie says she don't got a boyfriend. Unless you're married or somethin'," Charlotte shook her head, not seeing the glare from Roman. "Naw? Alright, maybe I can take you out sometime."

Charlotte smiled but shook her head. "That's really sweet, David, but-"

"She's my girl, David." Roman said again, making sure he heard him this time. "I hope you understand that."

David shook his head and chuckled sarcastically. "Look, kid, you don't know who you're messin' with. How about we just pretend like you didn't just threaten me, ok? Ok." He rolled off of his tube and hoisted himself out of the water. Giving Charlotte a wink and blowing her a kiss, David walked away in the direction of his friend's table.

Charlotte glared at Roman, who was still seething from the encounter. "Hey, will you take a second and chill the hell out?"

"You expect me to sit there and let some loser talk to you like that?" Roman said calmly, despite wanting to scream himself hoarse. "You are my girl. I'll kick his ass if he comes near you again. I mean that. And why the hell are you talking to other guys like that?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Rome, I wasn't gonna do anything with him. He's just some stupid frat boy that thinks he can get any girl he wants." She chuckled. "No offense."

"Why would you tell him you don't have a boyfriend?"

"I thought we talked about this already."

"Then how would you explain our relationship then? If a came up to you, asked if you were with someone, and you pointed at me, what would you consider me?"

"Can we not talk about this right now? I thought this was supposed to be a stress free day."

Roman shook his head. "It's gonna be stressful when I knock that punk's teeth out," Roman started swimming for the side wall, ignoring Charlotte's protests, then pulled himself out of the water.

Dean, having seen Roman and Charlotte's conversation, hurried over to his large Samoan friend.

"Don't try to stop me, Dean."

"I'm not," Dean rolled his shoulders. "Whose ass are we kicking today?"

Roman pointed towards the picnic table area. "That douche with the black trunks. David or some shit."

Dean nodded his head. "Cool. Cool. I like that a lot. He's got a punchable face." He looked around the area, catching the onlooking stares of Seth and Titus. "Wanna rally the troops?"

Roman looked over towards Seth and Titus and cocked his head towards the tables. Reading what he wanted, Seth and Titus joined Dean and Roman.

"Somebody gettin' a ass whoopin'?" Titus asked, trying his best not to laugh in his excited state.

"Few people, maybe," Dean informed. "Someone's hangin' on Ro's girl."

Titus shook his head. "Aw, hell naw."

The group of four approached the picnic area. Suddenly catching Dean's eye, he saw a pair of guys standing over Bayley and Alexa, and judging by their faces they were not happy about what they were saying. Roman, seeing it too, beamed a look of annihilation towards this David guy.

"Hey," Roman barked to announce his presence. "I think you owe me an apology."

David laughed. "That so, bromigo? Just cuz your 'girl' says she's single? Naw, man, I think you should apologize to her. Ya know, cuz she wouldn't be lookin' at other guys if you provided for her."

While David's friends reacted towards his diss, Dean saw the two guys who were harassing Alexa and Bayley make their way over to the picnic area.

"Hey, look," Dean said. "Obviously we got ourselves a problem here; You're hittin' on Rome's girl and tweedle dee and tweedle dumb are hittin' on my baby mama. Now, unless you wanna go back to your fraternity house in a wooden box, you better back the fuck up."

David shook his head, stood up, then started for the exit with the rest of his group.

"That's it?" Dean taunted, hoping on top of a table. "You don't wanna try to defend yourselves? David, I thought you'd have a bigger cock than your girlfriend tells me."

David stopped walking, but continued on after one of his friends slapped him on the back.

"Why'd that happen?" Seth asked.

"I'm gonna go put the moves on Zelina," Dean said. "Tell me how you like it."

"I'll kick the shit out of you, if you really want."

"First of all…. Come on, Concussion Artist. Second of all, that douche was hittin' on Charlotte. Roman needed his boys so we backed him up. Apparently they were soccer players based on how fast they ran away."

Ever since the affair between Summer Rae and AJ Styles became public knowledge, Dean used "soccer player" to describe someone as cowardly or frail; It made Roman smile every time.

"Roman," Charlotte approached Roman from behind. "Are you done being Johnny Tough Guy?"

"Are you done hittin' on other guys?" Roman shot back.

Charlotte threw her hands in the air. "You are being so stupid, Roman."

Dean couldn't help himself. "Roman's alter-ego is actually named 'Jimmy Tough guy.' Just so you know."

Roman stared daggers at his adopted brother. "Not helping, Dean."

Dean snickered. "Wasn't really trying to, Roman."

Alexa and Bayley made their way over to the group. Alexa hugged Dean, still shaken a bit from the douchey guys. Bayley looked around the room for her fiance; After seeing him walk in their direction, she walked as fast as she dared in the presence of a lifeguard and hugged Zack when she got close.

Roman shook his head. "Fine. Whatever. Everyone just enjoy the fucking water park."

Eventually the entire group gathered back around the picnic tables to see what was transpiring.

"I'm goin' back in the lazy river," Roman said. "And you (pointing at Charlotte) are gonna come with me."

Charlotte smirked but tried to hide it under her faux anger. "Why would I do that?"

"So no one else thinks you're available, cuz you're not."

Roman and Charlotte walked away from the group once again.

The rest of the afternoon at the water park marched along without incident. Alexa and Bayley were joined by AJ and Zelina, who'd gotten tired of the slides and, particularly in Zelina's case, the leering glances of creepers from one end of the park to the other. Dean even joked about making a sign that said "She's seventeen" and hanging it around her neck. So instead of being catcalled, she opted for ice cream with Alexa and Bayley. AJ was sick of Dana's moping, so she made Lex give her money for cheese fries and was currently sitting next to Alexa, chowing down and giggling at the conversation. Finally, Dean, Titus, and Seth, the ringleaders in the water park expedition, decided they were tired out. The excitement from earlier put Dean on edge, and while they hadn't seen the Penn St. "bros" since the confrontation, Dean still wasn't willing to put his guard down. Walking toward his gorgeous girlfriend, Dean's eyes began growing wide at the empty snack containers at the table Lex and Bayley occupied.

"Holy shit. What happened here?"

Alexa gave an exaggerated shrug and flashed Dean the eyes that usually melted him. "You were gone for a long time and I got hungry."

Dean grinned, bent over and kissed Alexa on the top of her head. "Y'all see everyone else?"

Bayley nodded. "Nia and Dana rode the big slide again, Finn and Liv went to ride that tandem one, the one with the big funnel-y looking thing at the top, Ro and Charlotte are still in the lazy river...um...Zack went to get a drink, Sasha and Becks went with Finn and Liv and…"

Dean finished for her. "Titus and Seth are getting our stuff from the locker room. Cool."

Dean began gathering the belongings that the group had left around the picnic table, then quickly dipped into the locker room to change into dry clothes. The drive home was just long enough as to have been really uncomfortable if made in wet garments. After a minute, he looked down at Alexa and raised his eyebrows.

"You got everything you need?"

She smiled, nodded, and gently took his hand in hers. She and Dean talked quietly while everyone else gathered around the table. After fifteen or so minutes, the entire group was accounted for and changed into dry clothes. Worn out from their long, exciting day, the young gathering sauntered slowly toward the exit.

The sun greeted the pack of tired students rudely, not caring that they'd been at play all day and were in varying degrees of fatigue. Even worse than the sun, however, was the growing recognition within Dean Ambrose that they were being watched. Peering over his left shoulder, his stomach sank as he recognized the silhouettes of the handful of brash Penn State students from earlier, walking toward them at a purposed pace.

"Ro," he called, flicking his head to the left to show Roman what he'd seen.

"Shit," Roman muttered. He was already irritated with Charlotte embarrassing him by telling that Dave kid he wasn't her boyfriend, and now it appeared that Dave and his buddies weren't content with a verbal confrontation. One by one, the SU kids turned to see what was approaching them.

"Nia," Dean continued. Nia nodded in instant recognition of what he wanted.

"On it." She hurriedly led Alexa away from the group and toward their vehicle. Liv, not wanting to be near any trouble, and Zelina, not wanting any part of any accompanying legal trouble, since her dad didn't know she was here, and he might well have Seth killed if that info were to be brought to his attention.

Dave stopped his group in front of Dean's, clearly hoping for trouble.

"Remember us?" Dave asked no one in particular.

"You fuckin' kidding me? We saw you like 3 hours ago. Of course we remember you. The question is, what the fuck do you want?"

Dave took another step closer. "I just wanted to ask Charlotte again if she was interested."

It occurred to Roman that Dave knowing Charlotte's name meant she'd talked to him, at least a little bit. He glanced over at the tall blonde, who looked uncomfortable.

Finally, she spoke; "Fuck off, Dave."

Dave snickered. "That's fine. But my buddy here wants to talk to that real tiny blonde. He said he thought he had a shot."

Dean's adrenaline began pumping with that remark. As far as he was concerned, this fight was going to happen now.

"Tell your buddy he's gonna look real funny trying to suck my dick with no teeth."

Finn chortled at this. "Damn, Dean."

The young man to Dave's right, the one who'd been talking at Alexa, took a step toward Dean. Zack, sensing that a fight was imminent, forced his way to the front, putting him in the middle of the two groups.

"Guys, we don't need to do this."

Dave snickered. "But I kinda want to, though."

Zack threw his hands up in frustration. Out of nowhere, a Penn State kid from the back of the pack suddenly reached out and sucker punched Zack. As both groups stood there stunned, Zack, who'd been knocked to one knee by the blow, stood up slowly and made eye contact with the guy that hit him.

"Fuck you."

The words weren't even done ringing in the air before Zack Ryder, of all people, returned fire with a blistering right cross to the jaw of the young man who'd hit him. That young man fell into a heap on the ground, knocked unconscious. That was all it took for Dean. He ran directly at the kid he'd seen talking to Alexa and unleashed a series of punches that left that kid bleeding on the pavement.

The next several moments were a blur; Roman Reigns unloading a series of devastating punches to the face, stomach, and ribs of Dave; Titus O'Neil using his long, muscular arms to rain down one bone-crunching fist after another; Seth Rollins using a Muay Thai technique to fire a salvo of knees to the face of another PSU boy; Zack Ryder using his good arm to stay on the kid who'd hit him; Finn Balor, grin wide, throwing forearms and leg kicks at an unnamed assailant; and, behind the SU boys, Dana Brooke and Becky Lynch struggled to hold back AJ Lee, switchblade in hand.

After the dust settled, Dean led his friends away from the scene back to where they parked their cars. Bayley rushed Zack the second he appeared, saying how scared she was and how brave her fiance was to stand up to those mean boys. Finn found Liv waiting for him near Charlotte's car; If the look on her face didn't give away how thrilled she was to see her man stand up to a few jerks, she jumped into his arms and kissed him several times.

Dean slid into the driver's seat of his car. Alexa was waiting for him in the passenger's seat.

"Babe?" She began cautiously.

"I'm kinda feelin' Five Guys for dinner, what do you think?" Dean looked at Alexa for her take, but got a shocked and confused look instead. "I'm in the mood for a cheeseburger, ya know?"

"Dean, your lip is bleeding."

Dean looked in the rearview mirror; His bottom lip was split open but wasn't bleeding anymore. "Damn," He poked the cut with his tongue. "Fucker got a clean shot in. You should see him though."

The back passenger door opened; Dana wrestled a still rowdy AJ Lee into the seat. "Eat penguin shit motherfuckers!" The tiny lunatic yelled at the retreating Penn State bunch. "I wasn't gonna stab him in the heart," AJ protested. "Just a quick shiv to the knee."

Dana finally got AJ seated then slammed the door shut; She then rounded the highlander and got in the other side. "We'll get you ice cream if you behave the rest of the evening." She said to AJ, who was now acting appropriately.

"Dean, please talk to me." Alexa said worryingly to her boyfriend.

Dean clenched his right hand into a fist. "I just… I'm still calming down. Give me two more seconds."

Alexa watched Dean with extreme worry; Other than on a football field, she hadn't really seen him get angry at anyone to the point of physical violence. It was scary to see him so upset. She understood why he had done what he did, but it was still alarming to see him get so aggressive.

Dean took a deep breath and turned back to Alexa. "Sorry, baby, what did you say?"

"Are you ok?" Alexa asked.

"I just kicked a guy's ass in front of a soccer mom and her three kids, but other than that…"

Alexa placed her hand over Dean's still clenched fist that was resting on the center console. "I love you, Dean. Thank you for standing up for me."

Dean smirked. "It was my pleasure, baby girl, believe me."

"But…"

"Ah fuck," Dean slumped in his seat. "Lemme guess: 'You can't be so violent when the baby gets here', right? You want me to try to be less frequent to bursts of anger?"

Alexa gently ran her finger tips up Dean's arm, resting her hand on his shoulder when she reached his bicep. "I love you, and I love that you defended your friends and I without a second thought, but you need to think about things before you fly off the handle. If our baby gets pushed down on the playground are you just gonna beat up the other kid's dad?"

"You wouldn't? Our kid gets picked on and you won't want to kill anyone?"

Alexa shook her head. "You use your words, Dean. You only fight when it's absolutely necessary. If you can talk your way out then do it."

"Alright, fine, I'll punch people less." Dean turned in his seat to check on Dana and AJ, but they were asleep; Dana had her arm draped around AJ, who was snuggled against Dana's frame. "Shit," Dean continued. "All tuckered out."

Alexa looked back at her two best friends. "I guess they're friends again. AJ was pretty mad at her before."

Dean started the car, then pulled out of the parking lot and began driving back to the cabin.

To call Roman Reigns irritated wouldn't quite be doing the young man or his mood justice. His patience with Charlotte and her insistence that she wasn't his "girlfriend" was finally beginning to wear thin. All through dinner, which he inhaled, with bruised knuckles and a small cut above his eye, he thwarted Charlotte's attempts to make small talk with one word answers and flat out silence. The resulting awkward dinner made everyone (except Dean) uncomfortable. Dean, never one to let an embarrassing domestic situation go to waste, simply grinned like a goon at his adopted brother. Alexa finally elbowed him, causing Dean to cease agitating his Samoan buddy.

The group finally finished their pilgrimage back to the chalet, every one of them some degree of worn out. Dean once again helped Alexa from her seat, but Lex could tell he was moving slower than he normally would have, so she didn't ask him to carry in her beach bag, since there was nothing in it that couldn't wait until tomorrow. Closing her door, she took Dean's hand gingerly in her own, noting his wince when she touched it.

"Let's go get you some ice, babe, then you need to jump in the shower and relax."

"You gonna jump in with me?" Dean asked with a smirk.

"Maybe if you're lucky," She teased him with a slow kiss and a wandering hand. "And maybe if you fix me some ice cream."

"I was promised ice cream too." AJ chimed in from the living room.

"That's on Dana," Dean replied.

"Maybe if she's lucky," AJ gave Dana a wink, getting an eye roll in return.

Dean gave his little goddess a kiss on the forehead and entered the kitchen. He pulled out one bowl, but after a puppy dog look from AJ, he sighed and pulled a second bowl from the cupboard and scooped ice cream into both. Dean heard Alexa's voice call gently; "chocolate syrup. It's for the baby."

Dean chuckled and reached into the fridge for the chocolate until he heard AJ mention whipped cream for Dana. Dean shook his head, slid the can of Reddi Whip toward AJ, and softly mumbled "no judgement here, kid." AJ tried to suppress a laugh as Dean carried the bowl of vanilla ice cream to his anxious girlfriend, who rewarded him by sweetly feeding him the first bite, making sure to smear a bit on his nose.

Alexa giggled in childlike guidishness; Dean was stripping down in front of her in the master bathroom, getting ready for a shower. Alexa let her eyes roam the muscular legs of her lover, then followed them to his toned core, then up to his defined chest all while smirking and biting her bottom lip in lustful desire.

"I still don't get why they call Dippin' Dots the ice cream of the future," Dean wondered out loud.

Alexa chuckled, always finding it adorable how random her man's thought process was. It was when she saw the cut on his lip again that she remembered how she needed to talk to him about something important.

"Dean," Alexa began. "We need to talk."

Dean tensed up. "If we're having that talk, can it wait until we get back? AJ may leave my body out here."

Alexa rolled her eyes. "I'm not breaking up with you. I have a little 'Concussion Artist' growing in my uterus right now."

Dean chuckled. "Uterus. That word is so-"

Alexa cocked her eyebrow. "Juvenile?"

Dean nodded his head stiffly and slowly while Alexa giggled. "Wow, ok then." He muttered under his breath.

Alexa cleared her throat. "No, but seriously, it's about the fight before."

"I know: Think before I punch people next time."

Alexa shook her head. "No, Dean, I need you to promise me you won't do that unless your life is in danger," Dean gave her a kiss to her forehead and helped her strip down also. "If you need to fight, then go ahead. But talk your way out before you throw a punch."

Dean pulled off Alexa's shirt. "Ok, so if a lacrosse player grabs your ass…"

"Call him a bitch and move on."

Dean shook his head. "What if some guy calls you a slut when Dean Jr. starts showing?"

Alexa fought back the smile growing on her face at the mention of the baby. "You tell him you'll find out where he sleeps and we walk away."

Dean smirked. "What if I catch you cheatin' on me?"

Alexa scoffed and slapped Dean on the chest. The force was a lot harder than Dean expected. "Then I must be the dumbest person on the planet to do something like that to you."

"Or I could start calling you Seth."

Alexa rolled her eyes. "How about we just agree that that'll never happen?"

"That I can promise," Dean took a moment to think of his next words carefully. He knew he had a quick temper. He always did. That was thanks to his mom and her many boyfriends abusing him for years. Hell, he might've gotten it from his dad but how the hell would he know? "The fighting though… Obviously I don't want to be that guy around my kids. I grew up with all kinds of people like that until Roman's folks took me in. I promised not to drink when you're around, which is already killing me, but I know how important this is. So, unless Adam pops up out of nowhere, I promise I won't fight anyone unless I have to."

Alexa smiled at the thought of her man beating the holy hell out of her shitbag ex. "Thank you, Dean. Now, come on, help me in the shower."

Dean bowed like Alexa was royalty, which he thought she was anyway, and helped her step into the tub.

Roman Reigns clomped down the stairs toward the bedroom he was sharing with Charlotte. He'd replayed the day's events over and over again in his head, with every cycle of those memories annoying him more and more. Charlotte followed him closely, trying to get Roman to explain why he was so angry. Finally, she grabbed his arm, attempting to get his attention. He pulled away, trying not to explode verbally on the tall blonde.

"Roman, stop."

Roman finally turned. "What?"

Charlotte sighed heavily. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

That did it. That lit the fuse. For Charlotte to ask him what was wrong with him after how she'd been the one to invite the issue with Dave and his friends took some gall.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me is that after the girl who I've been seeing the last couple months tells another guy that she doesn't have a boyfriend, and then that guy's friend sucker punches my pledge brother in a water park parking lot, the girl, who approached me first, by the way, has the audacity to act like it's my fault. That, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with me."

Charlotte shook her head. "Roman. I didn't flirt with Dave. I returned polite conversation. And he didn't ask me if I was available. He asked me if I had a boyfriend. And we've been through this."

Roman, who'd been taking his shoes off, threw his left shoe against the bedroom wall in frustration. "Yes. We've been through that. You've made it abundantly clear that while you consider me good enough to sleep with, or good enough to take a trip with, you don't consider me good enough to claim me as anything more than a 'boy friend,' whatever the fuck that means."

Charlotte clenched and unclenched her hands, fighting back a tear. "This morning, this goddamn morning, you told me you were ok with whatever I'm comfortable with."

Roman chuckled coldly. "That was before I got punched in the fucking face by a dick with a shitty accent who thought he had a chance with the girl I've been seeing for the last couple months."

Charlotte tried to explain herself. "Ro, he didn't have a cha-"

Roman cut her off. "You want to know what I think?" He didn't stop to find out if she wanted to know or not. "I think you kind of enjoyed seeing two guys fight over you. I think you're afraid to give away any of the power in a relationship. I think you're terrified of anyone seeing anything but 'Charlotte the campus queen.' And I think, deep down, you want to keep your options open. I'm good enough to be a choice but not good enough for you to choose."

Charlotte's tears came more frequently. "Roman, how can you say that?"

"Pretty fucking easily, if I'm telling the truth." Roman stood up and gathered a pillow and a couple of blankets. "I think I'm gonna sleep on that couch in the great room tonight. You come get me when you decide whether you think you're single or not."

With that, and without stopping to further acknowledge Charlotte's presence, Reigns stormed out of the bedroom, up the stairs, and into the great room, no longer able to think about what he left in the basement.

A/N: Thank you to all of those who left a review on the last chapter. We appreciate the feedback and take it to heart when we write each chapter.

What do you think about the future of Roman and Charlotte? Can Dean maintain peace like he promised? Did Finn fulfill his promise to switch beds with Seth? Leave your predictions below!