A/N - Wow... two chapters in two days... What's going on with me? I hope you guys can forgive me for making you wait that long between chapter 37 and chapter 38 and that's why I decided to hurry up with this new chapter. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 39

I was sitting in the room, all by myself, surrounded by dozens of persons I had never seen in my life. Some were crying, others had sympathies written all over their faces and there were a few smiles here and there. Some were hugging, others were shaking hands and all that, in a beautiful quiet environment. Some of them hadn't seen each other in years. It's sad to think that a funeral reunited people given the circumstances. I spotted Seth a little further in the small room and my heart ache when I saw his sister in his arms, in tears. Two days had passed since I decided to stay with him until this was all over. I couldn't go back home. I didn't want to. Not only because I thought he wasn't going to be alright but because I wanted to be here. As I was seconds away from booking my damn flight, Seth had come out of his room and told me the funeral would be two days later. I was surprised about how fast it was, but it was his mother's last wish. It didn't take me a long time to make the decision to stay. Seth and I fought. He said he didn't want me there but that didn't mean he wanted me gone. He wanted me to go on with my life and forget that I even came in Davenport but I couldn't do that. Even though we weren't together anymore, what kind of person would I have been to let him down like that? I knew his friends would make it in time for the funeral and that he wouldn't have been alone, but I still wanted to stay. I knew his mother and I wanted to be there to say goodbye too. She had been so kind to me, so that was the least I could do. I owed her. After all, I broke his son's heart.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I finally spotted familiar faces. I stood up and walked to Roman and Dean that had just entered the room. The big Samoan's face lighted up when he saw me and he immediately opened his arms to hug me. I wrapped mine around him as much as I could and buried my face in his chest. It was so good to see him. It had been way too long. When Seth and I were still together, we used to see Roman a lot and I hadn't seen him once since the break-up.

"How is he doing?" he asked me as he stared at Seth.

"I think he's holding up."

I moved away from the big man and turned around to face the other third of the inseparable trio. Dean stared back at me with his frozen blue eyes and I had to fight the urge not to punch his face.

"Hi Dean." I said, politely.

He mumbled something that I couldn't hear and decided to let it go. I was not going to pick a fight with him. I knew it wasn't the place but for once in his life, I wish he could act like a mature person. When Seth and I were still together, Dean was not my biggest fan but he wasn't that bad with me. At least he looked at me then. Now it was like he'd died if he dared look into my eyes. Well, maybe he was right because I was beyond furious. With everything that happened, he could at least make some kind of effort instead of playing his little stupid game.

"I'm gonna go see Seth and Sarah." Dean said as he walked away from us.

Roman patted my back in comfort. It was his way of telling me not to worry about Dean's attitude. He followed his friend as I went back to sit on my chair. As I watched the guys hug each other, someone sat beside me, but I didn't really pay attention to who it was. My eyes were stuck on Seth, Dean and Roman as I realized how much the bond between those three was strong.

"Hello Alison."

I turned around and had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Catherine. Seth's ex-girlfriend was sitting next to me with her perfect hair and perfect dress. The last time I had seen her was at Sarah's wedding. That week-end almost turned out to be a disaster because of her crappy attitude. At the time, Seth and I weren't even together and she was acting like the super jealous ex-girlfriend for absolutely no reason. The funniest thing is that we started dating because of her. I remembered the day of the wedding, when Seth and I were alone outside, talking about everything and nothing and Catherine was spying on us. I remembered kissing Seth just to drive her crazy but found myself lost in the sweetness of his lips.

"Please Catherine, now's not the time for drama…" I said, trying to hold on my emotions.

Thinking about that first kiss hurt a lot more than I would've expected, but I didn't want to look weak in front of her.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause any."

"Since when?"

I tried not to sound sarcastic but failed miserably. I looked at her and expected to see anger in her face but instead of being pissed, she smiled. It wasn't that wicked smile I was used to coming from her. It was almost like a sad smile. The sympathy smile. What the hell was going on?

"Might sound crazy to you, but I'm here to apologize…"

I was speechless. Was she joking? I didn't know if I should laugh or not. I tried to detect any kind of sarcasm in her voice but there was none. Oh my God, she really wanted to apologize. I guess now that Seth and I had broken up, she didn't have to be mean to me anymore.

"I know I have been a bitch to you since day one and I…"

"You don't have to apologize Cath-"

"But I want to." she said, interrupting me. "I know what you have been through with Seth. With the paparazzi and rumors and all that crap… I've been in that same position. I know how rough it can be. And I know I have been a real bitch to you and I'm sorry. You didn't deserve it."

"I-I don't know what to say…"

"You don't have to say anything." she said with a smile.

She told me that she talked a lot with Sarah after the wedding and that she had confessed to her that she really was the one who cheated on Seth. She then realized how much of a bitch she had been and how she was acting like she wanted to be back in his life again. The thing is that she didn't want to. She really was done with Seth, but she didn't want it to end the way it did, so she tried everything she could to make things right, without realizing that she was screwing it up even more. I thought for a moment that she might have been drunk for opening to me like that but then I realized that she was genuinely sorry.

"Thanks…" I finally said after a while.

She smiled and stood up, ready to leave. Her job was done and she seemed pretty happy with herself.

"Oh and Catherine…"

"Yeah?"

"Just so you know… Seth and I really were just friends that week-end."

"I know." she said with a smile before she walked away and joined Sarah.

Meanwhile, Roman and Dean were coming back, leaving Seth some alone time with his family. The big man told me they were heading downstairs to go grab a coffee and asked me if I wanted to join them. I could tell that Dean didn't want me there and I hesitated for a second but when Roman offered me his hand, I decided to take it and follow them. I was here to support Seth through all this, but he was in good hands with his family so I could totally take some time off to enjoy a good coffee. All three of us headed downstairs in silence and sat at a table.

"You want anything?" Roman asked Dean. "Coffee, tea, water…"

The dirty blond shook his head and the big man turned to me.

"What about you?"

"Black coffee, please." I said with a smile. "Thanks."

Roman left me alone with Dean for a moment. It was as awkward as it never had been before. The room was empty except for us three and the silence between us was heavy and uncomfortable.

"How was Seth?" I finally asked him, trying to make conversation.

I figured the only thing he wouldn't mind talking about was his best friend.

"He seemed fine… given the circumstances."

"I'm glad you guys came."

"We didn't come because you asked."

"I know…"

"Do you? You seemed to think that we ran to your rescue but we're here for Seth. Not for you."

"You don't need to be rude."

"What are you still doing here anyway?" he sharply said. "You called us because you wanted to be sure Seth wasn't going through this alone. We're here now. You can leave. It's not like you hadn't done it before…"

I felt my heart squeeze into my chest. I didn't want to show him that his words were affecting me, but the fact was that they were. I felt the tears coming to my eyes and I had to fight the urge to crack. I was not going to give him the satisfaction. Meanwhile, Roman was coming back with my coffee but suddenly, I didn't want any. I wasn't even sure if I could even drink it or if I was going to puke, since I literally had my heart in my throat.

"Why do you have to be mean to me, Dean? What have I ever done to you?"

"Guys…" Roman said calmly. "Now's not the time."

"You left him." Dean said, ignoring his best friend's advice.

"You hated me before that. You have been a dick to me since day one."

"She has a point…" Roman said.

The big man gave up on trying to stop our argument because he knew neither of us would stop. There was something between Dean and me and we needed to clear it up.

"She fucking broke his heart!" Dean snapped at his best friend. "Am I supposed to be ok with that?"

"I thought you'd be happy that I wasn't in his life anymore." I said.

"You know what? You're right." Dean finally stated. "I thought you weren't good for him, that you were a distraction. Seth said otherwise and I chose to believe him, but as soon as you were done playing with him, you left."

"I wasn't playing with him, Dean"

"Do you have any idea how much you hurt him?" he yelled at me. "Seth was a fucking mess after you broke his heart! You weren't there anymore but I had to deal with it. I was the one that picked up the pieces! I was there for him when you left him!"

I didn't know what to say to that. I had no idea how Seth felt after that night at Felix's house. We hadn't seen each other until the day he showed up at my office to tell me his mom was sick. A look at Roman's face confirmed me that Dean wasn't lying. I thought he might be exaggerating but the way the big man nodded made me realize that he wasn't.

"And all that because you couldn't take it!" Dean continued.

Roman put his hand on his shoulder, silently asking him to calm down. He didn't want to disturb Seth and his family that were still upstairs, grieving.

"Because I couldn't take it?" I asked, sharply, trying to keep my voice down as much as I could.

"Yeah! You're a fucking coward who ran away the first chance you got because you couldn't take the pressure of dating someone famous. You should've thought of that before screwing with his head. Or maybe that's all you wanted… to SCREW HIM!"

I couldn't believe it. Is that what Seth had told them? That I used him? I looked at both of them in shocked. Roman was avoiding my stare but Dean wasn't. He was determined to confront me once and for all, I could see it in his blue eyes. That's when I understood what was really going on. I suddenly realized why Dean was acting like that with me.

"Oh my God…" I let out in a sigh. "You guys have no fucking idea what really happened…"

"What do you mean?" Roman asked.

"I didn't leave Seth because I couldn't take it!" I said, looking into Dean's eyes. "They were threatening to take the championship away from him!"

"What?" they both said.

"Some people started rumors about me. They were saying things that weren't true but apparently, your bosses didn't appreciate it. True or false, they didn't care. It was bad publicity and they didn't want their champion to be associated with that kind of drama. I didn't care about what they said about it. I knew it wasn't true and yes, it bothered me for a while and made my life a lot harder, but not as much as it bothered me that Seth could lose his dream because of me. I wasn't going to let that happen."

"Seth never said…" Roman said.

"Yeah… I see that now." I said, interrupting the big man. "Listen, I know the way I handled things was fucking messed up… but it was the fastest way I found to let your bosses know that Seth and I were done. I had to think fast before they actually take it away from him. At the time, I thought I had no other choice. I know now that it wasn't the best way, but what's done is done."

"Doesn't make sense…" Dean finally said. "Seth would've told us."

"Oh so you think I'm lying? Well, fuck you Dean, 'cause I'm not! It's not my fault if your best friend decided to keep that away from you!" I yelled as I felt tears coming to my eyes. "I am not going to sit here and listen to you talk about how I'm a bitch for breaking Seth's heart. You think I don't know that already? Do you think for one second that I don't feel bad every fucking day for doing it? I LOVED him. I didn't WANT to leave him. I HAD to leave him."

As Dean was about to say something, we heard someone coming downstairs. We all decided to shut up and turned around to see who it was. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that it was Seth.

"Here you are." he said with a small smile. "I thought you guys left."

"You know we wouldn't." Roman said when he realized Dean and I weren't going to say anything.

We were both still pretty fired up and decided it was best to keep our mouth shut. We both didn't want Seth to know about what had just happened. Now wasn't the time. At least we agreed on something.

"Am I interrupting something?" Seth asked as he looked at both Dean and me.

"No." the dirty blond said, with a calm voice.

I could feel Seth's stare on me but I couldn't face him. All my emotions wanted to burst out of me and I knew they would as soon as I would look into his beautiful brown eyes, so I kept staring into Dean's. My heart jumped in my chest when I felt Seth's hand on my shoulder.

"You OK?"

"She's fine." Dean and Roman said at the same time.

"Ali?" Seth asked with a worried voice.

"I'm fine." I finally managed to say.

Although he didn't seem convinced, he decided to let it go and sat with us. Roman changed the subject and talked with Seth while Dean and I were still staring at each other. After a while, we both calmed down and joined the conversation like nothing had happened between us. As much as I was pissed at him, at least now I knew what his problem was with me and he now knew the truth about the break-up. The fact is that we both cared a lot about Seth's and we had no idea how much the other cared too.