SmackDown went off air and one by one the three former Shield members made their way up the ramp and away from the audience. They had ended with a segment of the three men tearing each other apart. WWE was going all in with this angle. It would be the main event for next PPV. They found the locker room empty and started undressing.
"You guys wanna go out and celebrate tonight?" Dean asked.
Roman and Seth both looked at him concerned.
"With water," Dean said. "Jeez, I stopped drinking. You know that. I'm not that stupid that I'll fall back into a bottle. I learned my lesson the first time around."
"Just checking up on you, brother," Roman said.
"Aw, I'm still your brother," Dean smirked. "I love you too, man."
Roman smirked back and held out his fist. Dean bumped it and then walked to the showers. Roman and Seth joined him shortly after.
"Have you talked to Jada since Raw?" Seth asked.
"I tried texting her but I got no answer," Dean answered.
"Be careful. Brock's an angry man. He's not gonna like you trying to come back into her life," Roman said.
Dean turned off the water and grabbed his towel. He stared at Seth and Roman who were both in the process of washing their hair.
"Why didn't any of you tell me she started dating him?" Dean asked.
"Why would we? You made it perfectly clear you didn't want anything to do with us when you left," Seth said.
"You know damn well I want to know about Jada," Dean said.
"We tried, Dean," Roman said. "When you left, we all tried to text and call you for months. Me, Seth and Jada. You ignored us all. Eventually we gave up and moved on. She moved on, Dean. You don't get to be angry now because things aren't going your way."
"But he's hurting her!" Dean yelled. "She was supposed to be safe with the two of you, and you failed her! You fucking failed her like I did!"
Dean turned around and walked back to his clothes. He sat down on the bench and buried his head in his hands. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. Roman was standing there with Seth next to him.
"I failed her, Roman," Dean cried.
"What do you mean, he's hurting her?" Roman asked.
"I went to his locker room Monday. I found him standing over her," Dean said.
"Standing over her doing what?" Seth asked.
"Beating her, Seth!" Dean yelled. "That asshole is beating her, and he's smart enough to not leave bruises where anyone can see them."
"Fuck!" Seth muttered.
"We had a feeling," Roman said.
"You had a feeling?" Dean stood up. "You had a feeling and you did nothing?"
"We tried!" Roman raised his voice. "But she's not letting us in anymore. After she started seeing that dumbass, she's not letting any of us in. Not like she used to. You did a fucking number on her when it comes to trusting and loving anyone, and you don't get to put the fucking blame on us. Take some fucking responsibility!"
Dean started shaking and crying. He knew he had done a number on her when he left. Now three years later he couldn't even forgive himself for leaving the love of his life like that. He never wanted to be away from her. His depression had played a number on his mind.
"I didn't mean to," Dean whispered.
"But you did," Roman said.
"I love her, Roman," Dean cried. "I love her so much that it hurts."
"I know," Roman said.
Roman pulled Dean in for a hug and let him cry. Dean finally broke the hug a couple of minutes later. He dried his eyes and nodded.
"Thank you," Dean said.
"We're not giving up on you just yet," Roman smirked.
"Wanna come to our room and hang out?" Seth asked.
"No, I wanna be alone," Dean answered.
Dean tried calling Jada again. He hadn't been able to sleep since he got a text from her an hour earlier. He had gone back to his hotel room after crying in the locker room, and Jada sent him a text that worried him.
"We were supposed to grow old together. I fucking loved you, you stupid piece of shit."
He had tried calling for an hour but she didn't pick up. He had no idea where to go and look for her. He was worried she would do something stupid. Seeing how Brock was well into breaking her further from the mess Dean left her in, he wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly couldn't take it anymore. She had her breaking point too, and he was afraid she had reached it tonight.
"Pick up!" He growled.
Once again she didn't pick up. He threw the phone on the bed next to him, and it started ringing. He quickly grabbed it, hoping it was her. Roman's name flashed across the screen. He clicked the green button and put the phone to his ear.
"No need to check up on me. I haven't been drinking," Dean said.
"But Jada has," Roman said.
"You know where she is?" Dean asked.
"Dead drunk in my bed," Roman said. "We found her outside of our room."
"I'm on my way," Dean said.
Dean grabbed his key card and ran to Roman and Seth's room. The door was left ajar for him, and he barged in without knocking. Jada was in Roman's bed, passed out from drinking, tucked under the covers. She looked so fragile. He teared up but managed to keep them from falling.
"What have I done?" He whispered.
He sniffled and looked around. Seth was standing up against the wall with his arms crossed.
"She used to do this just after you left. She would get drunk out of her mind and show up at our door. Sometimes still awake, other times she passed out in the hallway like tonight," Roman said.
"It's my fault," Dean said.
"No, it's not," Roman said.
"Yes, it is," Seth said.
Roman and Dean looked at Seth.
"Seth, don't do this," Roman said. "Not tonight."
"No, I wanna hear what he has to say. Let it out, little brother," Dean said.
Seth pushed himself off the wall and walked up to Dean.
"I can forgive you for how you treated us but I have a hard time forgiving you for how you treated her," Seth said.
"I have a hard time forgiving myself," Dean said.
"You don't get to play the victim!" Seth snarled. "Look at her, Dean. This is your doing. I know you didn't force her to drink, but you always say that actions have consequences. You left her without an explanation or anything to go play with your new, cool friends in AEW. This is what your actions led to. You broke her heart, and you didn't even fucking care."
"I care!" Dean screamed.
"Shut up!" Roman cut through. "If you wanna have a screaming match, take it outside the hotel. I'm not getting kicked out because of you, and you don't get to do it in front of her."
"She's dead drunk. She's not waking up. You know that. We've done this plenty of times before. She never wakes up until hours later," Seth said.
Seth grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the room. Dean looked over at Roman who sighed in return.
"Don't worry. He'll be back. He just needs to cool down for a bit," Roman said.
"How many times has this happened before?" Dean asked.
"I lost count," Roman sighed again. "It was in the beginning when you left. She tried drowning her sorrows. She eventually stopped going out getting drunk, and we thought she moved on. She closed down more and more. We tried so hard to make her let us back in but it's hard with three broken hearts that all seek answers from the person who broke them. You weren't there for any of us anymore. We had to figure out how to move on, and we couldn't figure it out as a group. She took it the hardest. After all, she was the one living with you. How the fuck did you ever picture her being alright with you moving your things out of your shared home without telling her beforehand? You were a fucking coward, Dean."
Dean nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed. He reached a hand forward and stroked Jada's cheek. There was no response. She was in a deep sleep.
"I know," Dean said. "I'm a fucking coward."
He moved his hand down and pulled the covers down to her chest. She was wearing a t-shirt, and bruises showed on her arms.
"She was wearing a sweater. I took it off her. I didn't expect seeing this," Roman said.
"I told you," Dean said.
"You told us tonight," Roman said. "We didn't know. We had a feeling things weren't alright but she wouldn't tell us anything. You know how stubborn she can be. You two got that in common."
Dean smirked at Roman. It was true he and Jada had a lot in common. That was why they worked so well together back in the days. He couldn't bullshit her, and she couldn't bullshit him.
"Can I stay the night?" Dean asked.
"You can take the floor or share Seth's bed," Roman said. "I'm not letting you into bed with her. You're gonna need a personal invite from her to do that."
"What about you?" Dean asked.
"I'll sleep next to her. Like I said, we've been here plenty of times before. She's used to waking up next to me, and she expects it. She's not gonna expect you being here but I guess I'll have to ask her forgiveness for that tomorrow," Roman said.
Dean nodded, kicked off his shoes, and lied down on Seth's bed. Roman undressed, turned off the light, and lied down next to Jada. The door opened about 15 minutes later. Seth kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket. He undressed to his briefs and crawled under the cover.
"What the fuck?" Seth asked surprised.
"It's just me, little brother," Dean said.
"Fuck, you scared me," Seth said.
The room fell quiet for a few seconds. All three men were awake. Roman was waiting for them to figure it out.
"Are we good?" Dean finally asked.
"Yeah, we're good," Seth said. "Like I said, I can forgive you for what you did to us."
"But not her," Dean sighed.
"I can if she does," Seth said. "No more beating around the bush. Tomorrow you tell her what the fuck went through your head three years ago. None of us know. It's okay if you don't wanna tell me and Roman, but Jada deserves to know."
