CJ hadn't told Seth about her thoughts ganging up on her, because when he was around she wasn't mean to herself. She was happy in the few hours that she got to spend with him, so she had no reason to worry. She was almost certain that she just needed a distraction and she'd be fine. The next couple days without him would be full of distractions so when he snuggled up to her in bed Wednesday morning, it'd be like he had been there the whole time and she was fine with that.

"Hey, babe? What's this box?" Seth called from the closet and CJ sat up in bed, glanced at the clock, and groaned when she saw it was four in the morning.

"What's written on it?"

"Pictures."

"Then I guess there's pictures in there." She mumbled, dropping her head back into the pillow and Seth looked over at her in uncertainty. "Why are you up at four if you only need to pack for two days?"

"Because my flight is at nine."

"That makes no sense."

"Should we open it?" Seth asked, pulling the large shoebox down from the closet shelf and holding it out to her prone form. She only picked up her head and blinked owlishly at him, to which he sat down beside her and set the box in his lap. "By the way, do you know where my Glamour Kills tshirt is?"

"The one with the pig?" CJ asked, rolling onto her back before she sat up and scooting closer to Seth.

"That'd be the one."

"It's neatly folded in the laundry basket on top of the dryer. I'm good at washing clothes, not at putting them away."

"I hate washing clothes and love putting them away, so I'll take care of that before I leave." Seth assured, tucking her into his side and kissing her head with a small smile. "Did you want to look through these? They're yours."

"I'm sure it wouldn't hurt anything." She said softly, flicking the lid off the box and Seth's eyes scanned the pictures on top while CJ hoped they wouldn't find the one picture from her childhood that she didn't want to see.

"You were such a cute baby." Seth commented with a smile, picking up what was probably her only baby picture. "Such chubby cheeks."

"Shut up. I bet yours were chubbier."

"I was a fat baby, so probably." He agreed, lightly pinching her cheek as he put her baby picture to the side. "Is that your mom?"

CJ rest her head on him, taking the picture in question from him. She was about five at the time, it was probably her first day of school and she looked really excited while her mom just looked tired. But still, her mom was smiling.

"Yeah, that's my mom."

"You have her facial structure. Actually, if you really look, you look more like your mom than your dad."

"Thank you."

"How come I haven't met your mom yet? We've been friends for so long, and we've been to Canada so many times and I met your hockey star grandpa, so-"

"She died when I was sixteen." CJ cut him off, instantly stopping his rambling. For a moment, Seth thought that he was in trouble with her, but the small smile on her face told him otherwise. "It was- uh- it was AIDS. She got it when I was eight when she tried experimenting with drugs and ended up unknowingly sharing a needle. At least, that's what she told me. She didn't even know she was sick until it was too late to try treating it. I didn't even know she was sick until I was fifteen, which I found weird because I was her only child, but she had collapsed before I came home from school and I found her there. I felt pretty bad, too, because I was a royal pain in the ass up until I was fourteen." She let out a watery chuckle, and Seth rubbed her arm gently. "We were constantly fighting about whether or not Chris would come and see me. At first I thought she was always telling me that he wasn't coming back to hurt my feelings, but I found out that she was trying to protect me from the realization that he wanted nothing to do with me, because once I figured that out I tried killing myself."

"CJ-"

"I haven't tried since then, don't worry. I was fourteen, heartbroken, and stupid. She found me in time and I'll never forget the time we were sitting in the hospital together after my stomach got pumped and she asked me if my stomach hurt. I told her it did and she told me to remember the pain I was enduring to live, because dying would have hurt her so much more and she promised to kick my ass to across Manitoba next time I tried taking my life. I knew that she probably would, and I've never even considered it since then."

"Nobody knows this, huh?" Seth asked, knowing that that was probably her most sacred memory and she kept stuff like that close to her chest. He felt honored that she would share such sacred memories with him, and would never use them against her.

"Only Adam and his mom, and now you. Keep it that way."

"You have my word. Thank you."

"Maybe my prom picture is in here." CJ mused, setting the picture of her and her mom back in the box.

"Who'd you go to prom with?"

"Jay. Adam told me that if I didn't go to prom he'd stop teaching me to wrestle, but of course after moving to Toronto from Winnipeg I didn't really have friends so Adam and Jay surprised me by interrupting my history class with Kurt Angle to make a big deal out of Jay asking me to prom. They had this banner and brought me flowers and they had worked together writing this really cheesy poem about how awesome I'd be if I went to prom with him. Looking back, it was actually pretty embarrassing, but I was popular for the last couple months of school." The smile was back on her face and Seth couldn't help but smile. Adam was probably the best thing to happen to CJ, although he didn't know exactly how it happened, but he was glad it did. Adam probably saved her life without her even knowing it, and Seth was grateful for it.

"Look at that gorgeous picture of you three doing the five second pose." Seth laughed before reviving a gentle elbow in his ribs courtesy of his girlfriend. CJ was smiling again, and that was Seth's goal. She had just dipped into what were probably the most unpleasant memories of her life, and he just wanted to make her smile before he left.

"I am craving an egg mcmuffin and a hash brown thing from McDonalds." CJ mumbled, rubbing her stomach as she thought about how good McDonalds sounded to her.

"Seriously?"

"Are you judging me?"

"Not at all. Do you want to wait here, or do you want to come with me?" He asked as he stood, heading for the dresser to get pajama pants and socks.

"If only they delivered." She mumbled, rolling out of bed and landing on her feet, catching the zip up hoodie he tossed her since she was already dressed.

"That would only make the obesity problem in America worse, babe." Seth stated, taking her hand in his as they exited their bedroom.

"Very true."

"So, Miss Copeland, you say that you think you might be depressed?" Dr. Irene Thompson, the therapist CJ made an appointment with, asked and CJ nodded from where she stood by one of the large glass windows overlooking the courtyard in the center of the business park. "You aren't paying me to watch you nod and stare out the window for an hour, are you?"

"I'm not paying you. WWE is and, as much as Hunter and Stephanie have screwed me and my friends over this year, I don't have a problem with wasting their money." CJ corrected, glancing back to see Irene sitting up straight in her big leather chair, chino pant covered legs crossed, pen moving across the notepad in her hand while her green eyes held a look that screamed unimpressed. Whether it was her attitude or her willingness to just blow the company's money, CJ wasn't sure. She didn't care, either. "Not that your services are a waste, I feel like you're going to be a huge help with everything that goes on in my head."

"Care to elaborate?"

"It doesn't leave this room just because I'm famous?"

"Even if you were dirt poor and only here because you got lucky, nothing leaves this room. My note pads stay here, as do all my audio recordings."

"Good." CJ stated simply, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jean jacket and returning her attention back to the window. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You tell me." Irene suggested, tapping her pen against the pad.

"I'd rather not."

"That's not exactly how this works, but okay. Do you know if depression runs in your family?"

"My mom suffered from it, other than that I don't know." CJ spoke as she started walking around the edge of the room.

"Tell me a bit about yourself. All I really know is that you used to wrestle and have a dad who used to wrestle. Other than that, I need you to fill in the blanks."

"Contrary to popular belief, my father and I have a pretty nonexistent relationship."

"Would you like to expand on that?"

"He wasn't there, never was, and I've come to accept that."

"So you grew up without a male adult figure in your life?" Irene asked, watching CJ carefully as she walked near her desk. A picture of a guy in his graduation cap and gown caught the blonde's eye and she picked up the glass frame to closer examine it.

"Is this your son, Dr. Thompson?"

"You're avoiding the topic."

"Growing up my mother had several boyfriends in and out, all friendly individuals. There was no abuse of any kind, one even helped with my homework. That was until my mom died two weeks after I turned sixteen. Then a friend of my father's stepped in, took me to Toronto, and has been taking care of me ever since. Legally, I'm Christina Copeland. Being a Jericho just stuck with everybody else since I was born Christopher Keith Irvine Junior."

"So you have a close bond with-"

"Adam. He's my dad. Chris is just my sperm donor. So, to answer your question, we have a very strong bond. You could call him my Jiminy Cricket and Geppetto combined."

"You're a fan of Disney movies?" Irene asked and CJ shrugged as she set the frame down.

"I've seen a few but I wouldn't call myself a fan. I'm more into zombies and action than make believe."

"Interesting." Was all Irene mumbled and CJ scoffed quietly before investigating Irene's diploma. "NYU? Fancy."

"This isn't about me, Miss Copeland." The middle aged woman sighed and CJ looked at her.

"Shouldn't the first appointment be as much about you as it is about me? We haven't even scratched the surface, Dr. Thompson, and if you think I'm going to let you in deeper when I know nothing about you then you must have missed a class on guarded people."

Irene wasn't sure what to make of her newest client. The blonde was certainly different from her usual bunch. Instead of flopping onto the black leather chaise lounge chair and instantly dipping into what was bothering her like all the others, she opted for standing by the window and mumbling what she felt her issue was before commenting on the color scheme of the room. It was almost like she didn't want to be here, even though she made the appointment herself and wasn't forced by the WWE to make the appointment. Possibly embarrassed, most likely prideful, and definitely going to be a hard but to crack.

"How would you tell your boyfriend that you went to see a therapist?" CJ asked, having made her way back over to the window overlooking the courtyard and unknowingly selling Irene on being prideful.

"He doesn't know?"

"He's been in Europe the past couple weeks. He flew in last night and I dropped him off at the airport this morning for a couple shows and he'll be home on Wednesday. I didn't really have the time to tell him."

"I'd just be straight with him. Is he overprotective?"

"I guess."

"You're shutting down on me." Irene commented, writing that down on her notepad.

"We only have five minutes left."

"Might as well make the most of them. What about your relationship with your mom?"

"No." CJ said simply, her tone betraying that her mother was a sensitive subject(which was something Irene definitely wrote down).

"No?"

"No." She repeated, blue eyes like glaciers as they locked onto Irene's mossy green eyes. The older woman only nodded, making a note to open that can of worms when CJ was more comfortable with her. The blonde's attention returned to the window while Irene observed her for the last four and a half minutes of their session, knowing that as soon as the cow shaped egg timer that rest on the small table beside Irene's large leather chair went off that she would be out the door without much of a goodbye. Whether or not she made a second appointment was up to the young blonde, but Irene felt like she'd see her again next week since the blonde wasn't paying out pocket and Irene hadn't touched on her depression concerns just yet.

Like previously agreed upon with Seth's mom, CJ met her at a party store in town and was a bit put off when she was pulled into a hug. She had only met the woman a handful of times, and never before had she been hugged so enthusiastically by the woman. But she returned the warm gesture, seeing it as being accepted into the Rollins clan.

"You look so much healthier than the last time I saw you, CJ." She commented as they separated and CJ smiled, awkwardly patting her legging clad thigh.

"Thank you. It's that son of yours, he always wants me to feel my best." CJ commented as they entered the store, desperately wracking her brain in an attempt to remember his mother's name. She knew that she had been told her name some time in the past and was a bit embarrassed that she couldn't remember.

"We definitely raised him right. You'll be a dear and push the cart, won't you?"

"Of course. I've been on my knee so much today, I'm going to need it."

"Seth told me about your surgery, I'm glad to see that it was a success. When will you make your return to the squared circle?"

Oh boy. Let's be convincing. "I'm undecided on actually returning. If I do, it'll be around WrestleMania season." CJ half-lied as they made their way through the store. "So, what were you planning on getting?"

"Streamers, disposable cups and plates, a banner, and balloons." She listed and CJ nodded as they turned down the isle. "I've already ordered his cake and he demanded that I just have Subway cater since he didn't want me doing too much."

"He's a thoughtful one. But I'm pretty sure he mentioned some kind of dinner, or-"

"The family dinner is on Thursday night since he doesn't have a live event Friday night and will be home. Wednesday was good because Dean and Roman can fly in with Seth that morning and then head home and still get a couple days to themselves."

I have to be near Dean? Fuck me. But not him. That would be bad. Fuck, I need Seth.

"Are you alright, CJ?"

"Ah- yeah. Yeah. Totally fine. My knee just started to flare a bit, but I'll be fine. I've wanted to have this bonding time with you since Seth and I got together." CJ covered, adjusting her stance for show as they looked at the streamers together, Seth's mom smiling over at her warmly. There was no question of where he got his big heart and warm eyes from and CJ loved this woman for it. "Blue streamers? Or the orange? I know he likes both colors, but I'm not sure what he likes more."

"I was thinking that we'd go with a blue theme, since there's so many different shades of blue and it's a nice summery color."

"I like how you think, momma Rollins."

"Please, call me Carla."

"Will do. And if you think about, blue could be used for any party, really."

"Fourth of July is right around the corner." Carla agreed with a nod, grabbing two rolls of three different shades of blue as CJ's phone vibrated in her coat pocket. Seth was calling her.

"You know, you're making it really hard for me to bond with your mom." She commented, smiling when she heard Seth chuckle.

"I just wanted to check on you. I know how you can be."

"I'll have you know that I'm just fine, Sethie. You act like I don't play well with others." CJ teased, continuing to follow Seth's mom to their next destination with tin the large store.

"Mom has a tendency not to with my girlfriends, I was just making sure that she hadn't sunk her claws into you yet." Seth said lowly and CJ found herself surprised that such a sweet woman would be capable. But looks could be deceiving, she would know since she played that game well.

"Alright. I'll definitely look for that while we're out but the decorations are supposed to be a surprise so I can't be on the phone while we shop for them."

"Alright. Be safe and remember that I love you, CJ."

"I love you, too, Seth. Call me when you get to the hotel after Raw."

"Sure thing." Seth assured before she hung up and smiled at Carla.

"He's such a sweet guy." CJ sighed. Although her love for him was real, her lovestuck act was purely fake since she was trying desperately to stay on his mom's good side. Now that she was made aware of the fact that Seth's mom had a bitchy side, she wasn't sure that she wanted to experience it without Seth around to comfort her in person.

This would be interesting.

Raw tonight was interesting to say the least. Cody's "skinny jean sellout" and "RK Blows" comments were absolutely golden and I love that Alicia Fox is going insane. She used to bore me and now she's slowly creeping into my heart as one of my favorite divas. My mom actually called me after the show to let me know that she didn't approve of my crush on Ambrose because she's convinced that he's a legit lunatic and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm actually kind of into that kinda thing haha.(This was not supposed to get this long. Oops)

Thank you to ArtisticLullaby, Sarcastic Nightmare, TaijiaK, UntilNeverDawns, and ChelleLew for reviewing the last chapter! I certainly appreciate it!