Chapter 50

Loud knocking on the door to his hotel room woke Mike from the restless sleep he had been in. It had taken him hours to finally drift off, and even then he had had terrible dreams. He kept seeing Mel's face, shattered by the weight of the words he had spoken to her. In the heat of the moment he had thought that breaking up with her was the best thing for both of them, but after she had raced out the door, he had started having second thoughts. For the first time in months he had gone to sleep alone, and it wasn't a good feeling.

Mike hauled himself out of bed and walked over to the door, rubbing his eyes and trying to wake himself up. His eyes were burning from lack of sleep, but he somehow managed to make it to the door. He reached for the doorknob and then froze when the thought occurred to him that it could be Mel standing on the other side. After a moment of internal debate and worrying about how his hair looked, he opened the door.

Much to his disappointment, it wasn't Mel standing there. It was Roman Reigns in all his Samoan glory, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. It looked like he had rushed right over without even bothering to put different clothes on, and that immediately caught Mike's attention. "Roman?" he said, surprised to see him. He and Roman weren't exactly the best of friends. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you about Melly," Roman responded, his dark eyes locked on Mike's aqua ones. "It's urgent. Can I come in?"

The moment Roman mentioned "Melly" and "urgent" in the same sentence, he had Mike's full and unwavering attention. "Of course," he said, stepping aside and allowing Roman to enter the room.

Once inside, Roman wandered over to one of the tables that flanked both ends of the couch. He reached down and picked up a picture frame, examining the picture inside. Mike knew from heart that it was a picture of Melly that he had taken while they were at the beach one day, one of his favorites. She looked so happy in it, with the setting sun turning her brown hair to gold and her hazel eyes alight with warmth and affection. Her smile in that picture was the brightest he had ever seen it, and it had filled him with joy. That had been one of the best days of his life. He would give anything to see her smile like that for him one last time.

Mike suddenly felt uncomfortable with the fact that Roman was looking at that picture. It felt like he had just stumbled upon something private, something sacred. He walked over and plucked the picture from his hands, setting it back in its spot on the table. "So what's wrong with Melly?" he asked anxiously, a huge knot of worry in the pit of his stomach.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Roman asked, turning his intense gaze on the Awesome One. "You dumped her. You broke her heart into little pieces right after you put it back together again. She's devastated. She showed up at my room looking for a place to stay because you kicked her out, and she broke down sobbing a few minutes later. She's still crying over you in there."

That stung Mike deep, but he didn't want Roman to see. The last thing he wanted to do was look weak in front of his nemesis. "She cheated on me," he mumbled, looking at the floor. "What was I supposed to do? It's happened to me before."

"She didn't cheat on you," Roman scowled. "She loved you, you idiot. It was just one kiss, and it was my fault. I came onto her. If you want to blame anyone for this, blame me. She never slept with me while she was with you. I saw the adoration in her eyes when she looked at you. For you to think that she would ever hurt you on purpose is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and you need to get it together. You can't keep comparing her to Maryse, because she is nothing like her."

"I know that," Mike snapped, irritated that Roman was delving into his personal life. "That doesn't mean I deserve to get hurt, though."

"That doesn't mean that Melly deserves to get hurt, either," Roman pointed out. "She's just as torn up as you are about this. She loves you more than you could ever realize. She placed her trust in you, and you broke her heart. Give her one more chance."

Mike chewed the inside of his lip. Maybe he had been too harsh on Mel. She had never shown him anything but love, and he had tossed her away in an instant. It suddenly hit him that the way he had acted was deplorable. He had destroyed the heart of the girl he had promised to protect. She had every reason to be heartbroken. Hell, she had every reason to come here and punch him in the face.

Roman was still staring at him, waiting for his answer. Mike looked at that picture, and he instantly knew what he had to do.


Mel heard the sound of Roman's key card in the lock, but she didn't even turn to look. She was laying on her side, wrapped in a blanket and staring at the wall. All that she could think about was the fact that she had lost Mike.

"Melly?" Roman said from behind her, sounding concerned. "I have someone here who wants to speak to you."
Mel squeezed her eyes shut, a pounding headache beginning to set in. She wasn't in the mood to hold a conversation. "I don't want to talk to anyone," she said dully, drawing the blanket tighter around her. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear.

"Melly."

Mel froze, her breath catching in her throat. She slowly sat up and turned around, tears filling her eyes when she saw Mike standing at the end of the bed, all of the memories rushing back. "What do you want?" she rasped, her voice hoarse from crying. "Haven't you hurt me enough already? Or did you just come here to rub it in?"

"No," Mike said softly. "I came here to say that I'm sorry. What I did is horrible, and I never meant to hurt you, even though I know I did. I wish I could take everything I said back, but I can't and I know that it cut you deep. You made a mistake and you apologized, and instead of accepting your apology, I started seeing you as I saw Maryse: a cheater. It was just one kiss, and I blew it way out of proportion. I'm so sorry. I want you back, but I know that our relationship might be broken beyond repair. Just say the word and I'll leave, and you'll never have to see me ever again."

Mel looked at him, a few stray tears trickling down her cheeks, and then she looked down at her hands which were clasped in her lap. She took a few deep, shuddering breaths, and then she got up off of the bed and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist without a word and just stood there clinging to him, her eyes tightly closed.

Mike understood her silent message loud and clear. He put his arms around her as well and just held her, feeling her tiny body tremble against his. He had hurt her pretty badly, but he knew that he could fix the damage he had caused. She was giving him a second chance, and that was a big leap in of itself.

Mike looked up at Roman, who stood leaning up against the wall with his muscular arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were fixed on Mel at first, and then he slowly looked up at Mike. The two of them locked eyes, and then Roman gave a small nod.

Mike nodded back and then placed a kiss on the top of Mel's head. He wouldn't push her away again.