CJ was actually having a good time with these women. Michelle was a great host and cook, Sierra was just interesting in general, and CJ and Mikaela had already bonded slightly so she was comfortable. Despite the looks of confusion she got when she denied any kind of alcoholic beverage, nobody pushed her to reveal anything too revealing about herself until the one question she was expecting popped up.
"What's Seth like in bed?" Michelle asked, receiving a playful swat from Sierra while CJ giggled nervously around her glass of water. "If you saw the body on that man you'd be wondering, too."
"I have to say that Seth Rollins is one fine piece of ass." Mikaela spoke with a smirk, winking over at CJ who only sighed.
"It varies from day to day, but he's very active for the most part. He is well versed on pleasing a woman." CJ informed, smiling as the three women sitting at Michelle's dinner table with her chuckled.
"Define 'active'?"
"A lady never kisses and goes into detail when she tells." CJ teased, smile turning into a smirk when Michelle pointed at her.
"I like you."
"I get that a lot, it's weird." For the fifth time that night, the table erupted into laughter and CJ smirked as she took another drink.
They like me...and I'm just being myself? Weird, but okay. She thought to herself, hearing the Raw intro start and looking down at her phone. There was only one message on her phone, from Dean, asking about her doctors appointment. But CJ ignored it, deciding to wait until she wasn't among others to text him back. Dean was working anyways, and Batista leaving was more than beneficial to The Shield.
"Bet your man is happy about this, huh?" Sierra asked and CJ nodded with a smile as they all moved to the couch, each grabbing some kind of snack on their way.
"Anything negative revolving around Bluetista makes Seth happy. "
"What was he wearing last night anyways?" Michelle asked and CJ chuckled. "The only person out there in color, and he picks bright ass blue?"
"I wouldn't know. I liked simple-"
"You can't even say that with a straight face." Sierra laughed, making CJ laugh because her ring gear was anything but simple. You'd never lose her in a crowd and that was partially her point. That, and being a Jericho meant obnoxiously flashy. She was still grateful to this day that she wasn't forced to wear a lite-brite jacket. One was made for her and it was in her closet, but the only time she had ever worn it was to try it on. She couldn't be exactly like her father, and she didn't want to be. At this point, she wanted to be nothing like him.
"You okay?" Mikaela asked quietly and CJ nodded, smile still on her face. "Do you zone out a lot?"
"From time to time. Its no big deal." CJ dismissed her question, feeling her phone vibrate in her hand. She turned it over to see another text from Dean, but she ignored it because she didn't want to be rude. "Hey, Chelle, where's the bathroom?"
"Down the hall, first door on the left."
"Thank you."
Once she was secure in the bathroom, CJ unlocked her phone and went into her messages.
'How was your appointment? The babies are alright? I wish I could've gone with you.'
'Are you busy right now?'
'Appointment was fine. The babies are fine. I wish you could've gone too. I'm currently watching the show with some neighbors so I'd say that I'm a little busy. Can I call you after the show?'
'Yes please. I miss your voice'
'Call me after the show. I'll be waiting.' CJ replied before flushing the toilet and washing her hands for show.
"CJ, what was working with Paul Heyman like?" Sierra asked as Paul Heyman mentioned both CJ's and Brock's wins at WrestleMania like he had been for the past couple months. The fact that he was proud of her was enough, but the constant mention of her victory made her swell with pride and boosted her ego.
"Probably the best thing ever. Yeah, he's shady, but the man taught me so much in such a short amount of time. It was great."
Upon reading the text from CJ, Dean couldn't fight the smile on his face. The night was going his way for once. Things with Seth were smooth, CJ wanted to talk to him, and Evolution was imploding. Everything was just so perfect, he was certain that nothing could bring him down.
"Let's go get food, Mr. Happy." Roman teased, ruffling Dean's hair as the blonde zipped up his vest.
"The world is going our way, Ro. I swear I heard birds singin' our praises this morning."
"Yeah, you sure it wasn't your hangover?"
"I didn't drink last night, surprisingly."
"I'm definitely in shock, Ambrose." Roman laughed, clapping Dean on the shoulder as they entered catering. Ever since they started defying The Authority, The Shield weren't seen as outcasts and were actually accepted by the rest of the locker room. Things were still rough with certain people who were constant targets of The Authority's punishment back in the fall, but it didn't bother Dean or Roman. Neither were in the WWE to make friends. "I wish I knew where Seth was, though."
"He's fine." Dean assured, putting some kind of meat on his plate and Roman shook his head. "He's almost thirty, for Christ's sake."
"And we're in the midst of a war. Half the locker room is in Triple H's back pocket, and we all agreed not to walk around an arena alone."
"Don't worry so much, mama bear." Seth cut in, reaching passed Roman to put some salad on his plate.
"See? Seth is fine. I told you, he's a big boy." Dean commented, heading for an empty table with his teammates following suit. "What are we going to do about Evolution?"
"For starters, we are going to stop talking with our mouths full." Roman scolded the blonde, who only shrugged in response. "I say we call them out. One of us is bound to have a match tonight so we can talk some smack beforehand. They're losing the war. Not us."
"And if they call down half the locker room?" Seth asked, knowing that wasn't going to happen but not wanting his teammates to suspect that there was something up with him.
"We beat 'em down." Dean commented, jabbing his index finger into the table gently while Roman nodded, approving smirk on his face.
"Seth, you'll grab a couple chairs and we'll be ready before they get to us." The Samoan elaborated, lightly elbowing Seth. The two toned man nodded, feeling a bit sick to his stomach over what he was about to do later in the night. He wanted to crawl into a hole, knowing that he was about to turn on his teammates in the simple matter of a couple hours. He was putting his relationship in jeopardy, knowing that CJ would in no way condone his actions. But it had to be done. Not just for him, but for her and the children she was carrying.
"You okay?" Dean asked, sensing that something was up with his teammate.
"I'm worried about CJ. I hate leaving her alone."
"She's watching the show with some neighbors. She'll be fine." Dean informed, not missing the puzzled looks from his teammates. "What?"
"She didn't tell me that she was talking to you again." Seth mumbled, picking at his salad in worry over losing his girlfriend to a better man.
"Keeping it casual. I need her in my life, but I'm not putting our brotherhood at risk and trying to get her in my arms again. She's your girl, Rollins, I'm not trying to take that away from you." Dean assured, keeping his gaze locked on Seth's. "Trust me."
"I do. Did CJ tell you about my idea?"
"Yeah, but I can't do Iowa. It gets cold and it snows. Two things I definitely won't do after Christmas."
"I don't want to be too far from my family, though."
"You're damn near thirty. I'm pretty sure your mom can handle you living in a different state. She did it once."
"I'll think about it and talk to CJ. She should get the final say."
"Don't leave it all on her, that shit drives her nuts." Dean warned and Seth nodded with a small chuckle. Both men were unaware of the way their Samoan teammate was looking between them curiously, both having forgotten to inform him of CJ's pregnancy and the current circumstances surrounding the blonde woman who successfully captured both of their hearts. As much as Roman wanted to ask what the hell they were talking about, there were more pressing matters to attend to. His curiosities could wait until after the show.
CJ absolutely loved when Dean was on the microphone. That deep voice, coupled with his high energy coming off of the big match from the night before, it was just so great to her. The women around her paid no mind to her unintentional swooning over Dean Ambrose and his magical mic skills while Roman was talking and bragging about their brotherhood. She always loved their brotherly bond and felt bad about coming between it at times, but she felt that bond would stand the tests of time.
And then Triple H came out talking about his Plan B. For a moment, CJ wondered if the Plan B was that stupid sledgehammer that Hunter made his signature, but then she saw Seth raise the chair as he walked forward.
"Seth, no." CJ murmured, standing when the steel chair made contact with Roman's back. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"What!?" Michelle shouted in time with CJ, standing beside the blonde. Mikaela and Sierra were too in shock to say anything while Dean put two and two together, looking between his fallen comrade and the traitor within the ranks.
He looks way too surprised for this to be planned. CJ thought to herself, covering her mouth when Seth stared down Dean with such a cold look that she had never seen before on his face. And Seth looks so upset. What the hell is going on?
Eventually, all four women were on their feet, watching as Seth nearly bent the chair in half with how many times he struck Dean. CJ counted every strike with that first chair. He hit Dean twelve times, while Roman was only struck twice in the younger man's assault. And she felt like she knew what the second chair was for as soon as he picked it up. Even with the morning sickness and anxiety from being pregnant; she had never felt more nauseous than when she watched Seth look down at Dean, measuring his former teammate, friend, and brother, for the move he called Peace of Mind.
CJ found no peace of mind watching her boyfriend destroy his teammates and then hand the same chair that he stomped Dean's head into over to Randy Orton of all people. The man who months prior he got pissy over her talking about the Super Bowl with. She felt sick. She wanted nothing more than to be there to slap the shit out of Seth for selling out like this. Especially if that was how he imagined their lives changing for the better.
She couldn't watch as Randy beat down Roman, and made the excuse of needing something to drink. She stared down the open bottle of wine, seriously tempted to drink a glass to help ease the pain in her heart caused by Seth's betrayal. But the thought of her unborn children and Adam kicking her ass pushed her to the sink, quickly turning on the cold water and filling her glass. She noticed the other three looking back at her in concern, and checked her phone to see that Adam had called her, she had five new messages, and a direct message on twitter, all received in the last five minutes. She could only imagine what social media sites looked like right now, so fresh off of Seth's betrayal.
"I- uh- I've got to deal with this. My dad is calling and-"
"Go ahead. We're all here for you if you need us." Michelle assured, pulling CJ into a hug that she didn't necessarily want.
"I appreciate it. Tonight was really fun despite my boyfriend being a traitor, we should do this again some time." CJ suggested, smiling as she stepped back.
"Definitely. We'll talk more later, you're getting a phone call." Michelle assured, Sierra and Mikaela calling their goodbyes as CJ slipped on her shoes before he slipped out of the house.
"Chrissie, what the hell is Seth thinking?" Adam asked, making CJ sigh.
"I wish I knew. He sent me a hella vague text about how our lives are about to change for the better, but I feel like I'm about to be sick. I never thought that this was even a possibility." She explained as she let herself into the house, looking at the picture of her Seth, Dean, and Roman that was taken of them at some diner in Jersey while Adam rambled about possibilities. She couldn't help but wonder of she was the reason he so viciously assaulted Dean and then she began feel guilty.
"Ambrose, I need to look at your head!" Dr. Sampson called down the hall as Dean helped Roman rush down the hall after the Samoan was checked out. "You can't just-"
"It's gotta wait, Doc! We've gotta go!" Dean called over his shoulder, not bothering to look back as they headed for their locker room. They weren't going to change or shower, since they had to go. They knew exactly where they were going next, and it wasn't Cincinnati even though that's where SmackDown was being taped the following night. They had to talk to CJ and it was a five hour drive from Indianapolis to Davenport. They had to get to her before Seth did because Dean needed to know if she knew about Seth's betrayal and Roman had a key to Seth's house.
Honestly, Dean had so many questions for CJ. Some were related to Seth and others weren't. But he was just so mad about getting struck repeatedly with a chair and betrayed by somebody he once called a brother, he was forgetting that she was pregnant and didn't need him yelling at her. All he wanted was to punch a wall, but he'd white knuckle the steering wheel while he drove himself and Roman to Davenport so they could talk to CJ about her stupid boyfriend.
I'm still a believer in The Shield. I still haven't come to terms with what Seth did, but I still believe in them as individuals and as a team. Watching the clip over while I wrote this chapter still hurt, though. But I am patiently(not all that patiently) awaiting SmackDown tomorrow in hope for some kind of answers as to why.
Thank you to Dixiewinxwrites12, Sarcastic Nightmare, Ubersassynova, ladyjade37, TaijiaK, Kdaniels270, ChelleLew, UntilNeverDawns, angelsdee327, Elle, and AshleighxAwesome for reviewing the last chapter! It was relieving to know that I wasn't the only person totally blindsided and hurt because of it.