A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all from Ireland!

I hope you're all having a wonderful day.

I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, I kept tweaking at it for three weeks, trying to get it perfect, trying to get it to where I wanted it to be.

Thank you all for the reviews, they really made me smile. Also thank you for the new favourites and alerts.

Welcome aboard new readers!

Although if you've just started reading this fic you're probably not that new of a reader by the time you get to Chapter 31 and read this so...

Hello...

...er...

Semi-New Reader?..

Seasoned Reader?..

Veteran Reader?

.. erm ...

Hello... You! :P

Anyway, enough with the incoherent ramblings of a sleep deprived Irish woman. On to the story.

Read, Review & Enjoy...

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Disclaimer: I own nothing except the OC. Everything/one else belongs to themselves. I am not affiliated with the WWE nor do I claim to be. This is entirely a work of fiction, created in the dark depths of my wee brain.

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Chapter 31: Behind Every Door.

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Ted made me leave the arena with him immediately. We drove straight to the airport and boarded a plane to Tampa. Lucky enough tonight's was the last house show until Friday. On the way to the airport I had sent a quick text to Randy. I apologised for Phil's actions and apologised for not going to check if he was OK. I told him Ted had abducted me. He replied telling me he was fine, just a bit bruised, and that he was relieved that I was out of the arena. He also told me not to apologise for Phil, that it wasn't my fault. But that didn't stop the guilt I was feeling.

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When we landed Ted drove to his house, he refused to let me go home by myself. I had never seen him so wound up. He had always been over protective but this time it was magnified. As soon as we got into the house he closed the front door and bolted it shut. He was beginning to make me nervous.

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"Ted." I began trying to get his attention. "What is going on? Why can't I go back to my own place?"

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He ignored me and continued to pace the floor looking at his phone.

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"Ted!" I yelled. "Will you please tell me what's going on? You're scaring me."

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At that point he looked up from his phone. He stopped pacing and took a step towards me.

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"I'm sorry Star. I just want to make sure you're safe."

"Safe from what? From Phil?" I asked. "He would never hurt me."

"I'm not taking that risk."

"This is ridiculous."

"No it's not. He attacked Randy, he's pissed as hell right now."

"Phil and Randy have always had their differences, it wouldn't take much to prompt Phil to hit him. That doesn't mean he'd hurt me."

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I lifted my bag and moved towards the door.

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"I'm tired and I'm going home."

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Before I could open the lock on the door Ted jumped in front of me.

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"No!" He yelled.

"Ted, get out of my way. I'm not in the mood to mess around."

"Scarlett, you can't go home."

"And why not?" I asked growing frustrated.

"Because it's not safe."

"You keep saying that but you actually haven't given me a reason for believe it."

"Punk attacked Randy."

"Yeah, you said that but-"

"No Scarlett, you don't understand. He didn't just punch him. He beat the crap out of Randy. This wasn't just a bust up, there was blood everywhere. If it wasn't for me, Cena and Kofi pulling him off, I don't know how bad it would have gotten." Ted explained.

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I looked away. I couldn't believe what Ted was telling me. I sat down on the arm of the couch, trying to get my head around everything.

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"That's not all Scarlett." Ted spoke moving towards me. "When he left Randy's locker room he was looking for you."

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My head shot up.

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"What?"

"He told Randy he was going to find you. Randy called me then Cody called saying he'd just passed Punk trashing the Divas locker room. I was terrified he'd gotten to you. When I saw you in the hallway I was relieved but I knew I had to get you out of there ASAP."

"I can't believe this." I said holding my head in my hands.

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Ted's phone beeped.

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"It's Cody. Punk's been suspended til Mania and fined."

"Great." I replied dryly. "His career is in jeopardy because of me."

"He'll be back at Mania."

"Yeah because he's already been booked. He could get fired. And poor Randy. This is all my fault."

"The only person to blame here is Punk. He's responsible for his own actions."

"But-"

"No. Do not defend him Scarlett. What he did was despicable." Ted seethed. "And then going after you. The woman he claims to love... There is no excuse for that. I hope he does get fired. Because it will save me having to kill him."

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I knew there was no point arguing with Ted when he was this wound up, so I made my way to one of the guest rooms and dressed for bed. I sat on the bed and tried to digest everything I had just learned. It was then I remembered I had turned my phone off and put it into my purse when we were at the airport. I crossed the room to my purse and retrieved my phone. Sitting back down on the bed I turned it on and was met with a number of messages and voice mails. Upon reading the messages it became clear that everyone knew about what had happened and several of my co-workers were checking to see if everything was okay. I decided to leave the replies for now and moved on to listen to the voice mails. There were five.

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Message one:

"Hey Scar, it's Beth and Nattie's here too. We heard about what happened after the show. Get back to us when you can, let us know you're all right."

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Message two:

"Where are you? We need to talk."

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Message three:

"Scarlett, please stop ignoring my calls."

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Message four:

"PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE!"

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Message five:

"Quit being so damn childish and answer the phone. I need to see you."

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The last four messages were left by Phil. It was clear he was getting angrier with each passing message, by his third one he was screaming at me. The last message was an obvious attempt to push my buttons, hoping I'd get pissed off by the 'childish' remark and call him back for an argument. I have always believed Phil when he has told me that he would never, ever lay a hand on me. I have never doubted him. Even now my brain is screaming that he could never hurt me, but my body thinks otherwise. I looked down at my trembling hands and willed them to stop moving. I closed my eyes and told myself that Phil loved me, that he had made a promise to never hurt me. I told myself that he had a valid reason for hitting Randy. I told myself these things over and over again but the trembling in my hands would not stop and the terror in my heart would not fade. There was no valid reason to beat a man black and blue. There was valid reason to resort to violence. There is only one person to blame for all that happened. The overwhelming guilt began to consume me. I let the tears fall from my eyes freely. I could feel guilty about them later. All roads led back to me. I was the one who cause all of this fuckery. I was to blame for Randy getting beaten. I was to blame for Phil getting suspended. I was to blame.

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I awoke the next morning clutching a tear stained pillow. As I sat up I realised I had fallen asleep on top of the bed last night. I must have wore myself out crying. Standing up I checked my phone, no messages. I gave a sigh of relief. Making my way into the bathroom I got washed and dressed and made my way downstairs. Ted was already up and in the living room on the phone. I went to the kitchen and poured myself some coffee and sat at the breakfast bar drinking it.

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Ted came in a few moments later.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

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I gave him a look that said he had just asked the most redundant question ever. He sighed.

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"Thank you." I spoke.

"For what?"

"Last night." I began. "For being my protective big brother."

"That's what I'm here for." He smiled reassuringly.

"And I appreciate it. But..."

"But what?" Ted asked suspiciously.

"But I think I should really go home now."

"Absolutely not."

"Ted-"

"It's not up for discussion."

"You're right it's not. I'm going home. End of." I put my foot down.

"That's not a good idea."

"Look Ted, I really appreciate everything you did last night. Truly I do. But I made this mess."

"And what if he comes looking for you? He's been suspended, he's got plenty of time."

"If he comes looking for me, which I doubt he will, I'll deal with it."

"Scar-"

"Ted" I interrupted, "This is my problem. I have to sort it out."

"Fine. But you don't have to do it alone. If he so much as sends you a smoke signal you call me. Okay?"

"Okay." I smiled.

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I went back to my apartment an hour later. For once I was glad to home. While usually my small apartment felt cold and lonely, the emptiness was actually a welcome relief after being mothered by Ted. While I appreciated his concern all I really wanted was some time to myself and a little normality.

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I emptied my case and began sorting through my clothes.

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Rule number one of going home – Get the washing out of the way first.

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I put my washing into the machine and set it on a wash cycle before I listened to my answering machine and made my way into the living room. I opened a few windows and gathered my mail together, setting it on the coffee table as I took a seat on the couch. Things were starting to feel normal again.

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After a few hours of washing and drying clothes, giving the apartment a clean and the obligatory check in with my parents, I headed towards the kitchen to fix myself some dinner.

Opening the fridge I let out a small groan before binning the contents and closing the fridge. It would have to be take out for dinner unless I wanted a plate of butter and out of date tomatoes or fancied changing out of my comfy pyjama's and going to the store. Comfort won. I lifted the phone and punched in the number for the local Chinese take out place and placed my order.

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Walking into the kitchen I put a plate in the oven to warm.

As I was doing so I noticed the rain outside the window, as I moved closer I then saw a bottle of red wine neatly stowed away behind the bread bin. I had forgotten I still had it. I smiled as I lifted it out, uncorked it and poured myself a glass. Perhaps it was fate it was still there, a little unwinding after a stressful few weeks with a glass of vino or two wouldn't hurt.

I brought my glass into the living room and sat on the sofa, lifting my mail off the table as I sat down. I thought I might as well go through it now while I was waiting on my food to arrive. I was wrong. No sooner had I ripped open the first envelope than the door buzzer sounded.

I put the mail down and moved towards the door, buzzing him into the building and taking my money off the table as I went.

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When the door knocked I pulled it open, seeing the delivery guy with his hood up and his back to me.

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"Hey, how much do I owe you?" I asked as I stood with a crisp $20 bill in my hand.

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My voice seemed to get his attention as he turned around to face me.

Only it was not Billy, the delivery driver that I was expecting standing outside my door.

I looked at the last face I expected to see tonight with a dumbfounded look adorning my own.

"Hey Cherry Bomb." He gruffed.

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Thanks for reading.

Don't Forget To Review.

Merry Christmas,

Roxxi =)