CHAPTER NINETEEN

Joe reacts first. He kicks in the door like it's the easiest thing in the world. I'm terrified of what we're going to find inside. I cling to Colby's arm as we follow Dean and Joe inside.

"Nattie!" Dean calls frantically. There's no sign of her at first, but there's blood on the wall by the bed. It's too quiet for a moment, but then I hear someone sobbing gently.

Nattie's on the other side of the bed. She's got TJ in her arms and he isn't moving. She's covered in his blood and has a gun in one of her hands.

"I... I didn't mean to," Nattie whispers in horror. "I confronted him, and he came at me... He tried talking me down, but I wouldn't listen. I couldn't let him make excuses for what he did... There is no excuse for what he did… So he reached for the nightstand and I knew what was in there. I knew he was going to kill me... So I grabbed the gun and I told him to stop moving, but he kept coming at me, and I fired, and... and..."

"Shhhh," Dean whispers. He pulls Nattie into his arms, even as she refuses to let go of TJ. Joe checks his pulse and shakes his head and I realize TJ is dead. This is it. It's over. He can't hurt anyone anymore.

"You did good, Nattie. It's okay," Dean tells her. "You stopped him."

"I killed him... Oh God, I killed him! His family's never going to forgive me... My family... Oh God, I'm a killer. I'm going to jail. I can't do this… I don't know what to do… I didn't mean to do this…"

Her rambling continues. Nattie is in severe shock. "It'll be okay, Nattie," Dean promises. He gently pulls the gun out of her hand and puts it down beside him. Then he refocuses on just holding onto her and trying to calm her down.

Suddenly, police barge into the room. I assume someone heard the gunshot and called them. "What the hell happened?" An officer demands. Brett Hart is right behind them.

"He's dead..." Nattie sobs. "I-"

"I did it," Dean blurts out, releasing Nattie and standing up. "I shot the son of a bitch. He attacked his wife and I reacted. He was going to shoot her. I got to the gun first."

"Dean-" Nattie says.

"I'm not going to put you all through an investigation. I spent too many years watching guys beat on my mom. I wasn't gonna sit back and let him hurt her. I got witnesses and you have your confession. Do what you're gonna do."

"What's your name, Son?" The officer asks.

"Dean Ambrose," he says automatically. After a pause, he says, "Wait, sorry, wrong name. Jonathan Good."

"Jonathan Good, you are under arrest." The officer goes off on his speech and I am in shock. Dean just confessed to a murder he didn't commit to keep Nattie from going to prison. This can't be real. And it's all because I told Nattie the truth.

"I'll get you the best lawyer money can buy," Brett promises Dean.

"We'll get you out of this," Joe tells Dean.

"Dean..." Colby's at a loss for words. Finally, he says, "Be careful."

Dean shrugs. "It's not the first time I've been arrested, man," he says. That doesn't entirely surprise me.

As the police lead Dean away, Nattie sobs brokenly in Brett's arms. The police are examining TJ's body. I stare at it in shock. He's dead. He's really dead, and now Dean is going to jail. Even in death, TJ is ruining the lives of others. Colby holds me close to him. The police inform us we'll need to be interviewed. I hope we can all lie convincingly, because Dean didn't exactly give us a script to work off of.

"We will need to talk to each of you alone," a new officer says. I hate the idea of being alone with a bunch of strange men, but I have no choice. Besides, Dean needs us to pull this off, to convince the cops he killed TJ to protect Nattie. They need to know what a threat TJ actually is... or was.

Was. He was a threat. He's gone. I don't have to be afraid anymore. And I realize I can't lie about what happened to me anymore. It's time to tell the truth.

So when they take me aside for my interview, I tell them what I need to. I tell them my name. I tell them how close I am to those involved in this. And finally, I tell them what I've been too ashamed to say until now.

"I know Dean had a reason to believe Nattie needed to be protected," I say. "I know this because not only was TJ dangerous to Nattie… He was dangerous to me. He attacked me, more than once. It was bad and brutal and I was too scared to tell anyone what happened or who did it. TJ raped me. He raped me, and he stalked me, and he threatened me, and he even tried to assault me at a show, but the Rotunda brothers stopped that. They saw him holding my arm pretty harshly, and they can back this up. There was a night, after he attacked me, when I had a match against Brie Bella, and her sister hit my head into the ringpost. I was already concussed from his attack, and that injury put me out for a few days." I'm saying all this really quickly, trying to remember it all. There are so many things I've been hiding, but I can't do that anymore. Dean's going to go to jail if someone doesn't prove he had a reason to shoot TJ. Sure, he didn't actually do it, but his confession is believable. I'm positive no one will question that he's the killer.

The police listen. They ask some harsh questions. They ask several times why I didn't report the attacks, especially after the second one. I explain my history of being molested as a kid. I explain how I thought no one would believe me. I even admit I was afraid my soon-to-be ex-husband would find out. Everything is coming out, and now that I've started to talk, I can't seem to stop. I agree that I'll testify to all of this in court, even if there's no physical proof anymore. I'm willing to do whatever I can now. I just hope it isn't too late.

When I'm finally done talking to the police, I'm exhausted. Colby picks me up and carries me back to our room. He puts me into bed and covers me before crawling in beside me. Neither of us has the energy to change into pajamas.

"He's in jail," Colby says, finally breaking the silence. "That crazy moron confessed to a crime he didn't commit."

"He'll get out, Colby," I say. "I'll make sure I do everything I can to prove his so-called actions were justified."

"He doesn't deserve this."

"I don't understand why he confessed."

"I do. He's been attached to Nattie for a while now. I think he's been falling for her. It's hard to tell with Dean. He's usually all about one night stands and casual sex, but he's different with Nattie. And knowing an abused woman stood up for herself, saved her life, and stopped a rapist, I'm pretty sure he couldn't let her go to jail for it. The fact that it was Nattie just added to it."

I think back to all the times Dean's comforted Nattie recently. Colby's right. He obviously really cares about her. "We'll get him out of this."

Colby nods, pulling me closer to him. "I'm sorry, April. I'm sorry you had to keep working with that asshole so close by… If you'd told me… He would have died sooner."

"I know," I tell him. "You have no reason to apologize. Even with how stubborn I was about admitting things, you protected me. You kept me safe. He never got to me again once you and Dean and Taylor started protecting me around the clock. I love you all so much… And I'm just so relieved the truth is out now. I don't have to hide it anymore." I kiss him.

"You're safe now," he tells me.

"I already was. You're my safe place, Colby. You're all I need."

We're both too tired to keep talking after that. I fall asleep in his arms. As usual, even with all we saw tonight, he somehow manages to keep the nightmares away.