The BPO Halloween party was an annual event in the long list of traditions preserved each year for the SU student body and anybody else who stumbled upon the house.

Things were different this year. Instead of the thumping music and dozens of students overflowing from the house across the front lawn, it looked alarmingly quiet on the surface. It almost looked as if BPO wasn't hosting a party at all. But anyone who was walking by or watching the house would be in for a surprise via a sudden burst of sound blaring from the basement whenever the door opened.

Dean Ambrose was among the brothers volunteering to keep a lookout for anyone from Student Affairs, Alpha Kappa, or, God forbid, the police. A lot of things were keeping the young man on edge even when he tried to forget why he kept checking over his shoulder whenever he fetched himself a refill.

Maybe things were bound to blow over after this weekend. The whole "hacker" thing was probably a lame scare tactic from someone within BPO.

Bayley pointed out a hidden pattern in the last text the hacker sent:

your day of reckoning will soon arrive. Bad things happen to good People every day, but yOu are not one of those people

Every capital letter spelled out "BPO."

The moment Dean arrived, he asked around about the text. With his life experiences, Dean could usually tell when someone was lying to him. As far as he knew no one in BPO had any idea what he was talking about.

"Babe?"

Dean blinked. The beer in his hand was starting to lose its cool. He hadn't realized he'd drifted off into space thinking about the text until a bloodied cheerleader stepped into his line of sight.

"What's up?"

Alexa furrowed her brow, a worried stare behind her blue eyes.

"Is everything ok?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah. I'm good. Just thinking about the text."

Alexa checked her phone.

"It's already nine. Wouldn't this asshole have said something already?"

"I was thinking the same thing." Deciding to lighten the mood, Dean switched topics. "How are you feelin', final girl?"

Alexa spread out her arms, spinning around. Her bloodied skirt fluttered in the air, accompanied by her old-fashioned torn cheer sweater and pigtails. Dana and Bayley did everyone's make-up, adding fake blood to lips or painting a fake black eye to some; The corner of Alexa's mouth seemed to be bleeding.

"I don't think this character made it to the end of the movie," she told with a chuckle. "This outfit screams 'pre-title card' death."

Dean slid his prop hockey mask from the top of his head to cover his face.

"Ki ki ki, ma ma ma…"

Alexa shook her head. "I'm telling you it's 'chi chi chi, ha ha ha.'"

"It's Mrs. Voorhees saying 'kill, mommy, kill'. 'Chi chi ha ha', doesn't make any sense."

Alexa rolled her eyes to the ceiling, then kissed her man on the cheek.

"If you say so, baby."

A crackle of static sounded from the walkie-talkie sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Rubber Ducky to Good Buddy - Status update: No sign of Larry-hoo-haw anywhere. It appears Alpha Kappa is nowhere to be seen either."

"You have to say 'over'."

"Oh, uh, over, good buddy."

Dean chuckled and took the walkie-talkie. "Good to hear Otis. Y'all keep an eye out and I'll keep sending ZBZ sisters out with beer. Over."

"Ohhh yeah!"

The "music set to a reasonable volume" switched tracks upstairs. VV Brown's "Shark in the Water" started playing.

It occurred to Dean at that moment that he hadn't heard an ounce of noise coming from the basement, except when doorman Braun (appropriately dressed as Leatherface) opened the door to let people in or out.

The back patio door slid open. Roman and Tessa walked into the house, each dressed as 80s high school athletes in different stages of attack by an unseen slasher.

"Anything exciting?" Roman asked, fixing himself and Tessa a drink.

Dean chuckled once. "If watching Zack and Kev scream at each other over Dead by Daylight is fun, then yeah. I'm cumming with joy."

Alexa kissed Dean on the cheek, then left the room to find out what Bayley was up to.

"What about the text?" Roman asked.

Dean sipped at his beer, thinking over the last few hours. A few things didn't make sense, like why it was just their group of friends getting hacked and why they hadn't heard shit since earlier. But still, with everything going on in terms of Student Affairs, having to deal with Alexa's iCloud getting hacked was the last thing Dean needed to deal with.

"I'm starting to think it's bullshit," he speculated. "If the dude was going to leak my shit, he would've done something by now. But so far it's just a six-second clip of shit you can find on the Hub."

"Won't Alexa get it trouble for that?" Tessa asked. "What if she tries to get hired by a school district and they find out about it?"

Dean shook his head. "We looked into it. If it was a privacy leak thing, they wouldn't take it as seriously as if she was, like, a cam girl or something like that. Roman on the other hand…"

Roman sighed. "I can't let that shit get out."

"It won't," Dean assured. "It's probably just some sweaty comp major that needs to get laid or somethin'."

Dean and Roman shared a laugh, but Tessa choked back a sip of her mixer.

Upstairs was subdued and looked like a boring get-together between a few friends. But under the surface was a party that would be talked about for years to come.

Fake cobwebs, jack-o-lantern party lights, actual hand-carved jack-o-lanterns, a fog machine, Halloween themed drinks and food with a signature cocktail Sami called "Holy Fucking Hell" that he claimed was a secret recipe when all it really was is Hawaiian Punch, Kool-Aid, and three different kinds of rum.

DJ Juice Robinson kept the music going, switching between pop hits and Halloween music. Thank the heavens the basement was soundproof or there would be police at the door after the explosion of cheers when "The Monster Mash" came over the speakers.

AJ, feeling the most fucked up since her run with Molly in Mexico, screamed just as loud as anyone when her favorite Halloween hits came on. Between dancing, and downing enough liquor to kill a small Russian army, AJ kept close to her girlfriend.

Maybe it was a spur of the moment to start living care-free or a side effect of mixing alcohol with her medication, but AJ hadn't thought about her predicament for a minute since she got to BPO. Tonight, only Dana, and drinking, and winning that goddamn costume contest mattered to her, "hacker" or no hacker be damned.

A small gathering of gawking boys stared with dropped jaws and wide eyes, standing around one of the couches as a tiny undead cheerleader fiercely face-battled with a busty blonde zombie temptress.

AJ squished Dana's face between her hands.

"You taste like spaghetti and tequila!"

Dana, feeling a buzz but far from AJ's level of dedication, held her girl close in the dim light of the basement.

"And you taste like rum and Mu Nu Chi!"

AJ feigned a gasp of shock but quickly brushed it off and kissed Dana several more times.

The gathering of sex-deprived young men dispersed with the arrival of Dana and AJ's boyfriend. Brian, dressed as a comically oversized Ash Williams, slung his fake chainsaw over his back and handed each lady a drink.

"How are you guys doing?" He asked, though he could safely guess 'good' given how openly affectionate his girlfriends were.

"I'm super!" Dana giggled.

"I'm drunk but still able to give consent!" AJ called out, soon falling into a fit of giggles. "That's good news for both of you."

Brain sat on the sofa beside AJ. The tiny cheerleader seemed unsure with herself at first but she crawled into Brian's lap and kissed his cheek. It was still a new adjustment but it wasn't as awkward as it was in the parking lot of Nitros.

"You guys aren't staying sober just in case?" Brian asked.

Dana had given Brian the rundown on what was going on with the whole "hacker" situation. Brian's first response was to start tearing people apart, which nearly won AJ over completely, but Dana assured they would think of something to stop what was going on.

Dana shrugged. "I don't know. It's already kinda late and nothing has happened yet. If this jerk was trying to ruin us, he would've done it already."

"He's a pussy!" AJ exclaimed before drowning herself in her mixed drink.

Brian held AJ upright to keep her from falling over. His free hand slid over Dana's shoulder as he shrugged and nodded his head.

"I mean, yeah. Whatever you guys think is best. I wanna kick this fucker's ass when we find out who he is though."

AJ giggled. "I knew you were the right one for my Dana."

Brian chuckled to himself, hiding how furious he truly was. Dana, hell even AJ, didn't deserve the harassment they were getting from some geek with a computer. His girls might've thought his thirst for violence was a joke but he really did want to pummel whoever was responsible. It was for Dana after all… maybe AJ too, but only because she was downing vodka like water and occasionally grinding her hips against his thigh.

Dana finished off her cup, trying to chase that sweet relief intoxication brought. She waved off Brian's offer for a refill and sought after getting herself another drink.

Roman Reigns wasn't letting it show, but he was panicking. Needless to say, but if word got out that he sometimes got a "little carried away" in the bedroom, his football career was as good as dead.

Roman wasn't a bad person. Nobody in his friend group could think of a negative thing to say about him. He was kind, caring, and was quick with a joke to lighten the mood.

But, when his girlfriend asks him to degrade her because she finds it arousing… Roman gave in and did what she asked. Now that was coming back to haunt him because… well, that's why Roman was starting to sweat under his Predator costume - he had no fucking clue who was trying to ruin him, and for what reason.

Roman finished washing his hands in the upstairs bathroom. He sighed deeply, staring himself in the eye through the mirror. He was drinking but his worry was leaking through the haze and made it impossible to get drunk.

Realizing feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help anybody, Roman dried off and left the bathroom. The dark cloud hanging over the star defensive lineman's head called for a few shots of whatever he could find upstairs; Most of the liquor was taken to the basement, but Dean swiped a few bottles of whatever.

"What the fuck is taking so long?!"

Roman barely heard the voice at first, so he continued on through the hallway. Then a nagging feeling tugged at his chest and pushed him back to listen to the conversation like his instincts were telling him to investigate.

"I don't give a shit, Allie! I want to know why the fuck you haven't sent the video yet!"

Roman pressed his ear against the door, straining to get a better listen.

"Hurry the fuck up! You have everyone's phone numbers!"

Roman turned the doorknob, bursting into the room. A wave of shock washed over his body as his brow raised up his forehead.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked.

In the basement, Becky Lynch had been checking her phone every few minutes expecting another text that could potentially ruin her image around SU. The anticipation was killing her but the steady stream of beer and watching Shayna strike out with a few girls kept the mood up.

Charlotte on the other hand was as carefree and shitfaced as she was in Cabo after her break up with Roman. With her public image already dragged through the mud a few times over, she couldn't care less if more videos of her leaked to Twitter or wherever the "hacker" chose to post her private gallery.

Shayna propped her elbow on Becky's shoulder, sipping from a purple solo cup.

"I'm starting to regret embracing this 'gay' thing."

Becky chuckled once, offering some reaction to her friend's dry humor.

Shayna looked Becky over, realizing she wasn't saying anything to a joke she knew would get some kind of verbiage rant out of her, most likely starting with "it's no' jus' a t'ing, lass…"

"Are you good, Lucky Charms?" She asked, dropping her elbow and turning to face Becky.

Becky nodded. "Aye. Jus'..."

"Dude, your girl is out there right now fucked up and dancing like there's no fucking tomorrow. Why sit around and worry about shit you have no control over? Forget about the iCloud bullshit. That faggot would've posted something by now if he was serious. Go dance. Now. Before I do it for you."

Becky pursed her lips, wanting to be upset with Shayna's casual use of a slur, but she couldn't overlook the fact that she was right.

Baszler caught the smile breaking through Becky's frown and chuckled.

"Go. Hurry."

Becky sighed and nodded her head, then downed her beer. Charlotte nearly hit the ceiling when Becky embraced her from behind, but she settled and laughed when she realized who it was.

Shayna turned around to face the bartender, pushing her cup towards him.

"Can I get another? Maybe your num-"

"I have a girlfriend."

Shayna chuckled with fake joy, but she inwardly rolled her eyes.

"Me too?"

Shayna noticed Sasha step next to her and hand over her cup to the guy behind the bar.

"Any luck?" Shayna asked, looking Sasha's costume over; She wasn't sure if she was going for Ripley or Lara Croft, but it was solid either way.

Sasha snickered. "With what?"

Shayna shrugged. "Guys, girls… whatever."

"I'm good. I'm actually interested in someone else."

Shayna exhaled sharply. "Damn it."

Sasha chuckled. "You're trying too hard. Just relax a little, you'll figure us girls out eventually."

"No, I won't."

"That's a good first step: knowing you'll never understand how women work."

Shayna rolled her eyes, prompting Sasha to laugh. Banks spotted her ex dancing to the Halloween music with her girlfriend, holding each other close and being just carefree about the night.

"Who's the girl?"

Sasha looked at Shayna. "What?"

"The girl. You said you're interested in someone."

Sasha shook her head. "Boy. He's… got a girlfriend right now though."

Shayna chuckled. "Definitely don't want to be the homewrecker. Trust me."

"I know," Sasha sipped at her beer before heading back over to the small collection of ZBZ sisters.

Shayna sighed, leaning against the bar. When she wasn't watching Becky and Charlotte act like two absolute dorks in love, she was picturing her escape route if she didn't get more alcohol in her soon.

She almost didn't notice the cute girl from her computer class step up to the bar until she bumped into her arm, nearly spilling her drink.

"Oh! Sorry!"

Shayna waved her hand. "It's not a big deal. I've had worst luck tonight."

The girl giggled. "Not a fan of parties?"

"Tell me about it. I like your zombie baseball get-up."

The girl smiled, proudly looking at her tattered and bloody Yankees jersey. "Thank you! I worked all week on it! I like your retro look, it's very 80s… Hey, aren't you in my class? Computers, right?"

Shayna had already made that connection, but she played it off like she was just realizing it too.

"Oh yeah! I'm Shayna. I think I sit behind you."

"That's right! I'm Dakota."

Becky and Charlotte stayed close, keeping each other's arms snaked around each other. Charlotte's obnoxious drunken cackling couldn't keep Becky's spirits down, no matter how many times she spilled beer or bumped into other people.

"I LOVE YOU!" Charlotte called out over the music.

Becky giggled. "I love you too, lass. Are ya 'avin' fun?"

"SO MUCH FUN! I THINK YOU'RE GETTING ME PREGNANT TONIGHT!"

Becky started to giggle but burst into laughter when she saw the look of confusion on Charlotte's face once she realized what she said.

As Becky leaned in for a kiss, she felt her phone vibrate. She pecked Charlotte a few times, teasing a little bit of tongue, then broke away and pulled out her phone.

"Do you see the truth now?"

"What the fuck?" Becky whispered, watching the video play but hearing no volume.

She held her phone to her ear. It was especially strange since it didn't appear to be sexual at all. In fact, it was just a few people standing around before the clip flipped to another recording.

"I… fucked around on Lex last Fall, ok?"

"Well… Bayley wasn't technically my first. I like to say she was, but she wasn't really…"

Becky took Charlotte by the hand, roughly pulling her towards the basement stairs.

"What are you doing?!" Charlotte drunkenly whined.

"We gotta get goin'. Now!"

For the most part, Seth and Toni kept the illusion that they were nothing more than teammates. No one suspected a thing while they drank and played pool with their brothers-in-arms under the Halloween-inspired lights.

Seth thanked the darkened room each time he felt Toni purposefully brush her ass against his groin or he flexed his fingers around her bottom and whispered something explicit in her ear.

How they managed to sneak off to the second floor together without anyone noticing was beyond either Toni or Seth. How no one heard Toni moaning and crying out during their few rounds of intimate lovemaking was a miracle in itself.

Toni laid on her back, trying to catch her breath. Seth, his lips smeared with the fake blood Toni wore on her neck, paced around the room trying to chase away a cramp in his thigh.

"Dude, we have to be more careful," Seth chuckled, still breathing heavily. "I love you, but…"

"I know," Toni gasped, waving Seth off.

Seth chuckled and collected his pants. He felt his phone vibrate when he pulled his Kruger-inspired sweater over his head, but his mind was too focused on Toni's naked body to care about what notification made its way through.

"Do you want to come with me to Christmas this year?"

Toni propped herself on her elbows. "Really?"

Seth nodded. "Yeah. I want you to meet my parents. They'd love you. I think my dad would get a kick out of your accent. Try not to swear in front of my mom though."

Toni smiled softly. "You mean that, don't you?"

"Yeah, my mom is weird about swearing-"

"Not that, lad. The meeting your parents part."

Seth nodded his head. "Yeah. I do. This whole thing with our shit getting leaked and what happened this morning with the test made me think about how I've been going half-assed with a lot of my relationships. And life is too short for that shit. We might not get married, but I want to show you how important you are to me."

Toni nodded her head towards the bed. Seth, with a grin, leaned over his girl and softly kissed her lips.

"I'd love to, Seth," she whispered, pulling him closer with more kisses.

Seth's phone buzzed again. He groaned and dug his phone out of his pocket.

"Who's that?" Toni asked, putting her costume back on.

Seth, with a pressed brow, hit play on the video he got from an unknown number.

"I… fucked around on Lex last Fall, ok?"

"Well… Bayley wasn't technically my first. I like to say she was, but she wasn't really…"

"What the fuck?" Seth muttered.

The next clip nearly made him drop his phone. It was a private video, showing off Seth's bedroom back in Tampa. The main focus of the video wasn't Seth, but Ruby Riott undressing for the camera.

Ruby leaned into the camera. "Hey, Seth. You left your phone in here when you went to shower and I gotta get going to work, but… I don't know why I'm even doing this. I guess I just want you to miss me more while I'm away."

Ruby adjusted the camera to focus on her while she sat with her legs spread open. She licked the tips of her fingers, winked into the lens, then brought her fingertips to her clit.

The video suddenly cut to a video of Bayley talking to Alexa, but Seth's blood was too cold to focus on anything besides his pounding heartbeat. He suddenly got to his feet, startling Toni.

Seth popped open the bedroom door, ignoring Toni's questions of concern. He ran to the top of the stairs, nearly blowing out his knees when he stopped himself as several Stamford PD officers started entering the house.

"Sir! Stay where you are!"

Seth turned on his heels, grabbed Toni by the hand, then threw open the bedroom window and climbed out onto the awning over the back patio.

FIVE MINUTES EARLIER

Roman Reigns stomach dropped. There was no telling to what extent his anger was, but to say that he was furious would be an understatement.

"It has been you," he said, not sure if he was believing the words coming from his mouth. "This whole time. It's been you."

Tessa still looked shocked to see her boyfriend. She thought she lost him when he went to the bathroom and she snuck off to call her friend, but apparently, she didn't check hard enough to keep the facade going any longer.

"What do you mean, baby?" Tessa asked innocently.

"You have our phone numbers?" Roman asked.

Tessa bit her tongue to hide a smirk. "That's all someone needs to get into an iCloud these days."

Roman's heart shattered. His breathing turned quick and shallow, wondering if this was the early stages of a panic attack like he'd seen Dean go through in the past. He let his guard down when he was emotionally vulnerable after his break up with Ronda, and it came back to bite him in the ass.

"Are you fucking joking?" Roman growled. "After all the shit we've been through-"

"Roman, please, I can get better dick on Tinder in under an hour. You're hardly half the ladies' man you think you are. Shit, you are half the ladies' man you think you are."

Roman's phone buzzed in his pocket, but he didn't pay any attention to it.

"Why are you doing this?" He demanded, feeling his pain slowly combine with the bubbling anger in his chest.

Tessa chuckled dryly. "Ask Charlotte. That little bitch has had this coming for years."

"Charlotte?" Roman wondered, stepping out of the room.

Reigns took the steps two at a time. With a driven hustle, he ran to the kitchen. Dean looked up from his phone, his face sheet-white and caked in sweat.

"Dude, what the fuck?"

The basement door opened so suddenly and so fast that it nearly toppled Braun over. Becky, with Charlotte mumbling under her breath close behind her, hurried into the room with her phone in her hand.

"Where is everyone?" Becky asked.

Suddenly, Bayley stomped through the room with her eyes red and puffy, tear trails pouring down her cheeks. Zack was hot on his wife's heels, trying to get her to stop and talk to him.

"Dean?"

Ambrose already knew who was calling his name before he looked. When he did, his stomach hit the floor.

Alexa, her eyes watery and bloodshot, watched her fiance from the doorway to the living room. Her phone was in her hand, her fingers threatening to snap the device in half.

"Lexi..."

Alexa took off for the front door. Dean hobbled as fast as he could on his crutches, begging Alexa to stop.

"Who the fook did this?" Becky demanded to know.

As if she was waiting for her dramatic entrance, Tessa sauntered into the room with a beer in her hand like it was any other casual Thursday night. The shit-eating grin painted on her face just twisted the knife further into Roman's heart.

"Present, pretty, and punctual," Tessa hissed, sipping at her beer. "Did you like the video?"

"You?" Becky asked.

Tessa nodded. "Me."

"Still haven't told us why," Roman shot back, glaring through narrowed eyes. "Or are you too chicken shit to tell us?"

Tessa chuckled dryly. "Finally some balls from you, Rome. Seven weeks too late, but better late than never. Right, Char?"

"What?" Charlotte asked, trying to focus through her haze.

"Of fucking course you don't remember who I am!" Tessa suddenly yelled, her voice cracking as tears filled her eyes. "You fucking ruin my life and you don't even know who I am! Typical fucking Flair!"

Charlotte shook her head. "Look, if it's something my dad did-"

"Oh, go fuck yourself you miserable little bitch," Tessa snapped. "St. Mordecai's Private School for Girls? Grade ten? Fucking blonde and popular but you had to pick on the little fat band girl, right? Daddy didn't love you enough so you had to take it out on someone else."

Charlotte furrowed her brow. "Wait... Tessa Allen? Is that who you are?"

Tessa began a sarcastic slow clap "Well done. It only took you a million fucking years to figure it out. I'm glad to know you and your dad fuck over people and forget who they are. Must run in the family."

Charlotte slowly started to remember everything she'd forgotten since high school. She regrettably recalled being unkind to a number of girls she deemed "lesser fortunate" than herself, but Tessa wasn't the physically fit brunette she was today. She was short, overweight, and with reddish hair. It's no wonder she couldn't figure out why she looked so familiar.

"Your dad is Tully Blanchard - he worked for my dad," Charlotte recalled. "He took the fall, didn't he?"

"My dad, and a fuck load of other people too," Tessa hissed through gritted teeth. "I've never forgotten what a miserable cunt you were. Your dad got fucking lucky, but I wasn't letting you go. I fucking call the paparazzi and leak your shit and you still act like you're better than everyone."

"What the fuck did I ever do to you?" Roman barked, actually making Tessa flinch. "I was fucking good to you! I did everything right!"

Tessa chuckled. "You did. Watch the rest of that video, Charlie. See what your man really thinks of you."

Roman's fist balled at his sides. He never thought about hitting a woman before in his entire life, but...

Tessa yelled out as a fist connected with the side of her head and sent her to the floor. Sasha Banks, who had been listening around the corner this entire time, held her hand against her chest.

"That fucking hurts more than it looks," Sasha muttered.

Tessa, sporting a fresh mark on her cheek, smiled a blood-stained grin.

"Kick my ass if you want. You faggots are just collateral damage to me."

Becky lunged forward. She kicked forward, connecting the flat of her foot to the side of Tessa's head. The blow knocked Tessa out for a moment, but she regained consciousness a second later and stared blankly at the wall.

"POLICE! NOBODY MOVE!"

Roman, Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky froze in place. From the police's perspective, the four of them standing over an assaulted woman probably didn't paint a picture in their favor. They quickly collected their bearings again and broke the policeman's request, running like hell through the back patio door into the night.

Shouting and running footsteps followed them. Charlotte grabbed Becky by the hand and pulled her down behind a bush, getting as far under the branches and leaves as possible.

Becky held her hand over her mouth to muffle her rapid breathing. Charlotte nearly screamed out when a cop ran by, but she kept her composure when he kept running.

"If we get out of this without going to jail, I'm marrying you!" Charlotte whispered.

"I know!" Becky blindly reached for Charlotte's hand and held on tight.

Roman and Sasha were still running. It wasn't the fact that they were underage or having a party illegally, but standing over the prone body of an injured woman was not a good look, no matter who was at fault for whatever reason. Sasha sent up a dozen prayers, just begging to make it back to Race Dormitories in one piece.

By the grace of God, Sammartino Hall came into view. Roman and Sasha flew up the stairs. Roman fumbled with his key card, finally getting it to read and pulling the door open. Neither he nor Sasha stopped running until they were behind the locked door of Roman and Dean's apartment.

"I'm gonna throw up..." Sasha muttered, her chest burning like a raging inferno.

Roman took a step and collapsed on his couch. Sasha did the same, leaning into Roman for support as she tried catching her breath.

"I didn't see you there, you didn't see me," Roman said.

Sasha nodded. "See you where?"

Roman sputtered a chuckle, baiting a tiny snicker from Sasha.

TWO MINUTES EARLIER

"ALEXA! STOP!"

The tugging and pulling at Dean's knee told him that his pursuit was doing him more physical harm than it did anything good, but seeing his future escaping before his eyes was a bigger concern than what his body was telling him.

"ALEXA!"

Alexa stopped running. She faced Dean, slapped her hands against his chest, then aggressively wiped her eyes free of tears.

"Tell me you were lying!" Alexa whimpered, her bottom lip quivering. "Tell me you didn't really cheat on me with Ruby! TELL ME, GOD DAMN IT!"

Dean tried to lie, he really did. His mind started weaving a tale of deceit that might fool Alexa into believing his bullshit, but he couldn't find the words. He stared blankly at his girlfriend, then dropped his gaze to the ground.

"You did?" Alexa's words weren't accusatory or angry. Her voice broke again; She was so heartbroken that she couldn't speak.

"I... Alexa, please. I'm so sorry! Please, just let me-"

"Don't. Just don't."

Alexa didn't take off running again. Instead, she turned away with her head hung low and walked away. She didn't stop until she reached Betty, then she got in the car and took off.

Dean couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was pretty sure his knees locked in place, making movement impossible. Dean tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but his tongue was too dry.

"Ahem! What seems to be going on here?"

Dean didn't care that Max was standing in front of him, his kiss-ass look of judgment on his face like he was a scolding parent ready to punish their toddler. What caught Dean's eye, however, was the smirking president of Alpha Kappa, Wade Barrett, watching from a block away.

"Max, now's not the time," Dean warned under his breath.

"Um, it appears this is an over-capacity party! Do you know that will be a strike against your house?" Max shook his head, sighed, then dug out a notepad from his jacket. "I will say, I expected more out of you. Oh, and I was forced to alert the authorities. So make yourself comfortable, because they should be here shortly."

Dean dropped his crutches. Max cocked an eyebrow, looking somewhere between concerned and confused. Ambrose suddenly threw a hard left against Max's temple, knocking the annoyance to the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'll waive the strike!"

Max's begging did little to stop Dean from pouncing him like an MMA fighter and throwing another punch into his face. Dean raised his arm to throw another punch, but he was suddenly violently thrown to the side.

"DON'T FUCKING MOVE!"

"STAY DOWN, ASSHOLE!"

Dean lay belly down on the concrete, confused until he felt cuffs snap around his wrists. He looked over at the house, watching his beloved BPO be invaded by the police.

The officer arresting Dean helped him stand, holding him steadily by the arm while guiding him to the cruiser.

"Be gentle?" Dean quipped over his shoulder.

As Dean was guided into the back of the police car, he looked out the window. John Laurinaitis walked by, shaking his head slowly. He bent down to help Max to his feet. Max started spurting about something, choking back tears and holding the side of his face.

"Shut up, Max!" Laurinaitis barked, silencing his assistant.

The Dean for Student Affairs said more, but Dean didn't hear him. His arresting officer flipped on the siren and pulled away from the curb.

Dean kept his eyes locked on BPO until it faded from view. He turned in his seat, face forward, and waited to be taken into custody.