(A/N - just wanted to say thankyou for the lovely, recent reviews people have kindly left on this story. I really appreciate it, and please keep leaving them!)

Sitting in a huge arm chair, a blanket wrapped around her, and mug of hot chocolate to her side - you'd assume that Stephanie was feeling all warm and cosy... maybe she's physically warm, but her heart still feels freezing. Even now, after it's been over three months, she always finds herself asking the same question over and over: what did she do wrong?

When Brie didn't turn up to Raw that day.. everything just swerved; like she was in a fast moving car, and there was a sudden crash. Perhaps her not turning up would've been forgivable, if it wasn't for the way she got completely ghosted afterwards. Stephanie just felt so blindsided by it, there was nothing to indicate that Brie was capable of hurting her so deeply.. one day, she was telling Stephanie to imagine they were cuddled up, then she vanished from her life entirely..

After the first month passed, Stephanie had come to accept that Brie was gone - for whatever reason, she'd decided to disappear, and Steph had to get used to that, no matter how much it broke her heart. But then, the second month soon passed too, and Brianna was still lingering around in Stephanie's head; if anything, she was missing her more each day. Now, over three months have gone by since she was cut off, but her heart still ached for the woman who so cruelly dismissed her.

With the way Brianna treated her, Steph isn't sure why she still pines after her. After what Brie's done, it'd be so much easier to hate her.. but how can she? How could she hate the woman who comforted her when she cried? Who made her feel safe when the world around her was tearing apart at the seams? Who was so beautiful, so sweet, so kind... regardless on what Brie's done, she meant the world to Stephanie at one point - she almost still does - so how on earth could Steph bring herself to despise her?

Being unable to put the blame on Brie, Stephanie found the villain within herself.. and every single day, she hates herself for doing something so wrong that Brie turned her back on what they had. And she hates herself more for not even knowing what that is.

Besides Brie not turning up, a mere five minutes later, Stephanie discovered that her worst fears were a reality.. Paul cheating on her with a random blonde receptionist who worked for the venue. So many signs had near confirmed Paul's infidelity to Steph, but until seeing it with her own eyes, she was happy to play blissfully ignorant. But now, she has seen it.. and every time she looked at him, all she could see is him on top of another woman.

Not long after that day, Paul moved out of their house and into an apartment he was able to find. Aurora and Murphy weren't too happy when they were told about the divorce, but that's to be expected; their whole family life had been flipped upside down. Stephanie might have seen the signs of Paul's unfaithfulness, but his children obviously didn't, so it came completely out of now where for them. They know about the divorce, but still don't know about their dad cheating - he might've been a terrible husband, but he's always been an amazing dad - he doesn't deserve for his own daughters to hate him for it.

Right now, both Murphy and Aurora were at his apartment - while it makes Stephanie sick to even look at him, they were somehow able to work out an agreement on custody. Their actual divorce hasn't gone through yet legally, but they separated almost straight away. Paul attempted to apologise; claim it was the worst mistake of his life; that he'd never so much as look at another woman again. Wether he was telling the truth or not, Stephanie wasn't sure - but she doesn't care to put herself through the trauma of finding out.

At the moment, Stephanie was nearly shaking with anxiety; being entirely alone in a family house made for four left her incredibly on edge. The feeling of isolation was creeping through her veins, and she desperately needs someone to stay with her.

Frantically, she grabs her phone and scrolls through her contacts. Calling her parents doesn't seem like a very good idea, she'll only get a lecture on how divorcing Paul is the wrong thing to do; phoning Paul himself is quite clearly out of the question; her daughters would probably already be in bed, even though they probably wouldn't want to hear from their mum anyway, and Brianna is... well, Steph might want her voice to fill the silence, but that's obviously not happening.

Eventually, she presses the contact 'Shane' - hopefully he's up for a chat.

"Steph?" He answers, his voice sounding tired.

"Hey Shane.. um, are you free at the moment..?"

"I guess I've got a few minutes, what do you want?"

Sensing the mild annoyance in his voice, Stephanie instantly chooses to keep this talk short and sweet; he's clearly not up to a long, emotional, heart spill.. but considering it's not far off midnight, that would make sense.

"I uh.. I've just not seen you in a while, are you doing okay..?" She asks timidly.

"You phoned me at ten to midnight to ask me how I'm doing?" Shane replies, yawning loudly. "I don't buy it.. Don't you have that Bella girl to have these chats with? Or did you kick her out as quick as you did Paul?"

Steph lets out an audible whimper; hearing him refer to Brie made her shiver, she just wasn't prepared to hear something like that. Especially the jab about Paul. Just like her daughters - neither Shane or her parents know about Paul's infidelity - they were told that the couple had an argument, then decided to split up. Given that they're in the public eye, the fewer people who know, the better, and the lesser chance it'll end up in a gossip magazine.

"Shane.. I.. I just wanted to say hi.."

"Well you've said it now, can I go to bed?" He shoots, his fuse becoming short.

"Wait.. I.. I-I.. please don't go yet.. I'm scared.." Stephanie admits quietly.

"Scared?" Shane half mocks. "Scared of what?"

Secretly, Stephanie was afraid of herself. When she's completely alone, with absolutely no one to convince her otherwise.. she's petrified of what she might end up doing to herself. What if.. what if she does something that can't be reversed..? But Shane can't know that.. no one can. The shame might be what pushes her over the edge, if she isn't already there.

"It's.. It's just a really big house. Too big, with just me in it.. it freaks me out.."

"For Christ's sake Steph, you're 42 years old. Grow up." Shane says abruptly.

"Wait.. wait - h-how about we meet up soon..?" She asks, painfully realising that her brother had hung up on her.

Slowly putting her phone away, Stephanie decides to protect herself from herself, curling further into the blanket, restricting her own movement so that she could barely leave the armchair. If she was to let herself roam this enormous house freely.. Lord knows what she'd do.

Resting her head against the back of her seat, tears start forming in Stephanie's eyes. If the rest of her life is destined to be as painful as these past three months.. she isn't sold on sticking around to experience it.

As embarrassing as it is, the one person she wants is the one person she can never have.. and it's shattered her.

It's shattered her into thousands of pieces, potentially beyond repair.